Frst

Frst is a Paris-based pre-seed and seed firm founded by Bpifrance veterans to be the first institutional cheque into deeply technical French founders. The firm is small, focused, and partner-led, and it has built a reputation for engaging early with founders who often have a research or industry technical background. For physician AI founders building in France with a strong technical core, Frst is one of the more credible early names.

The thesis centres on deeply technical software and AI, with active interest in AI/ML in healthcare, computational biology, clinical decision support, and infrastructure for life sciences. Within healthcare, the team prefers founders with a credible technical or research foundation and a sharp wedge into a defined buyer. Pure consumer health, marketplaces, and services-heavy models are less natural fits than AI-native B2B and B2B2C software.

Check sizes typically range from two hundred and fifty thousand to one million dollars at pre-seed and seed, with the firm comfortable leading first institutional rounds and helping fill them with high-quality angels and operator-investors. They follow on selectively into Series A. Geography is French with selective activity elsewhere in Europe; founders without a French connection may find a less natural fit.

The partner team is small, technical, and supported by a tight network of operators, scientists, and angel investors. Diligence at pre-seed and seed is conviction-led and focused on the founder, the technical thesis, and the wedge. Decisions are fast when the firm is excited; the small team size means they engage substantively or pass clearly rather than dragging companies through extended processes.

The most reliable way in is through a portfolio CEO, a French operator-investor, or a respected angel in the Paris technical community. Cold inbound is read but converts less often than warm routes. When you reach out, lead with the technical story and the founding insight; Frst pays close attention to founders who clearly understand both the technology and the buyer. Bring a sober view on the regulatory and clinical evidence path and a clear plan for how a pre-seed or seed cheque takes you to a defined eighteen-month milestone. The right time to engage is at the very start of a real fundraising process for the first institutional cheque, when conviction can move the round. Founders pre-team, with no technical depth, or with a poor French connection will find better fits elsewhere; technical French physician AI founders raising their first institutional round will find Frst a serious option in Paris.