In a surprising development, Revolut, a prominent fintech firm rooted in London, has decided to redirect its ambitions towards France. During the Choose France summit held in Versailles, the company announced plans to invest €1 billion in the French market and establish its western European headquarters there.

Although Revolut will retain its global headquarters in Canary Wharf, this pivot indicates a growing recognition of France as a competitive hub for technology, actively challenging Britain’s dominance in the sector.

Under the leadership of President Macron, France is aggressively investing in becoming a digital leader. The French government is pouring resources into initiatives ranging from artificial intelligence research centers in Paris to innovative cybersecurity firms in Rennes. Macron’s vision aims to position France as a strong contender against the US and UK in the technology arena.

Paris is thriving with innovation, home to Mistral, an open-source AI company valued at over $6 billion, which competes with giants like OpenAI. In contrast, the UK’s equivalent is DeepMind, acquired by Google in 2014 for approximately £400 million, a valuation that has significantly increased since then.

Additionally, Paris hosts Station F, recognized as the largest startup incubator globally, which has facilitated the growth of over 5,000 startups, including high-profile unicorns like Hugging Face, known for its advanced machine learning models. The tech sector in the 9th arrondissement — dubbed Silicon IX — has flourished, attracting entrepreneurs and innovators.

This tech surge can be traced back to La Mission French Tech, initiated in 2013 while Macron served as a presidential advisor, aimed at enhancing France’s startup ecosystem and making the country a global innovation hub. The French Tech Visa allows for easier entry of international tech talent into France.

Next month, Paris will host VivaTech, running from June 11-14, which has quickly established itself as a premier tech conference. The event draws high-profile figures, featuring appearances by Elon Musk, Jensen Huang from Nvidia, Yann Le Cun from Meta, and Joe Tsai, co-founder of Alibaba Group.

In a parallel event, London Tech Week is set to occur from June 9-13, but it has not garnered the same level of attention and global participation as its Parisian counterpart. Notable tech leaders are expected to attend Brent Hoberman’s Founders Forum in Oxfordshire later that week, but may bypass the London events altogether.

While Paris enjoys significant momentum, Revolut’s decision also highlights challenges the company has faced within the UK. In a previous discussion at the Tech Summit in Rio, Revolut’s founders, Nik Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko, expressed deep frustrations regarding the British tech landscape, citing burdensome regulations and the complex process to secure a banking license in the UK.

Storonsky remarked on the delays in communication from authorities, calling into question the viability of the UK business environment. The sentiment was that Revolut felt neglected and undervalued in the UK, hindered by regulatory hurdles and media scrutiny.

Despite these difficulties, there may still be a positive aspect. The Revolut founders also noted that Brexit has hampered the influx of tech talent into Britain. With the UK’s new arrangement with the EU, the competition for tech preeminence remains open, offering potential for recovery and growth for the UK tech scene.

Katie Prescott is the Technology Business Editor.