EcoVadis has been selected for the French Tech Next40/120 Class of 2026, marking its fourth consecutive year in the cohort. The government-backed initiative, established in 2019, identifies and assists high-growth French scale-ups with international expansion.
The seventh cohort introduces a structural shift, evaluating companies on technological excellence and societal contribution alongside traditional financial metrics. EcoVadis has been placed within the Next40 category, which distinguishes the top forty firms within the wider 120-member group.
Pierre-François Thaler, Co-founder and Co-CEO of EcoVadis, stated that inclusion in the cohort strengthens the company’s objective to integrate sustainability data into corporate decision-making, demonstrating that economic performance and societal impact remain interconnected.
Founded in Paris in 2007 by Frédéric Trinel and Pierre-François Thaler, EcoVadis entered the French Tech programme in 2020 and achieved unicorn status in 2022 following a 500 million dollar funding round. The organisation now employs approximately 2,000 staff across fifteen global offices. To date, the firm has assessed more than 175,000 companies, with its analyses influencing over 2.5 trillion dollars in procurement expenditure during 2025.
The company has utilised decision intelligence and natural language processing (NLP) for over a decade to assist its 500 analysts and manage data scalability. Recent developments include a multilingual artificial intelligence assistant built on Microsoft Azure AI, which provides supplier evaluation summaries, risk analyses, and recommendations for clients.
EcoVadis continues to monitor supply chain emissions, noting that 55,838 companies within its network currently report at least one greenhouse gas emissions indicator. The firm operates a Carbon Data Network, incorporating a product carbon footprint calculator, and maintains integrations with external partners such as Sweep, Normative, Watershed, and Workiva to track Scope 3 data. Additionally, its Worker Voice tool, acquired via Ulula to monitor supply chain working conditions, has reached 251,613 active users.
The company has outlined three primary targets for 2030: expanding its assessment network to 300,000 companies, securing primary greenhouse gas data from 100,000 firms to address Scope 3 emissions, and engaging directly with three million workers regarding human rights and labour conditions.
The French Tech Next40/120 Class of 2026 recorded total revenues of 11.3 billion euros in 2025, reflecting an average annual growth rate of 31 per cent and a profitability rate of 45 per cent, excluding DeepTech firms. The selected companies account for 46,000 direct jobs globally, including 33,500 within France, and 97 per cent maintain an international presence. DeepTech enterprises comprise 27 per cent of the French Tech 120 and 38 per cent of the Next40, whilst 21 per cent of the cohort operates industrially, managing 33 sites across France.
