The remuneration of the founding directors of young French Tech startups has jumped on average by 30% since 2019, revealed Friday a study by The Galion Project, an interest group of entrepreneurs in the sector.
According to this study, which is based on 192 companies, the median gross annual salary of the founders amounts to 120,000 euros, and their increase is explained by "
the shock of the Covid (...) largely beneficial for the vast majority
" technology companies, and the explosion in fundraising amounts.
Read alsoThe French Tech in force at CES in Las Vegas
A quarter of the founders receive annual fixed compensation of over 153,000 euros, which has risen by 17% since 2019.
“
The dispersion of salaries has therefore been reduced a little between the highest salaries and those of the majority of the founders
”, underlines The Galion Project.
According to Jean-Baptiste Rudelle, co-founder of the former flagship of the French Tech Criteo and president of The Galion Project, this increase is a "
catching
-up " because "
the salaries of the founders were rather 30, even 40% below their value. in the labor market.
"
At some point, their salary level will exceed that which they could obtain as a leading manager in a large company
," he declared to
Les Échos
.
In addition to this fixed compensation, a “
small half of the respondents
” in the study has a variable portion paid according to the performance achieved by the company, and which contributes to raising the gross median compensation to 130,000 euros.
The founders of start-ups generally count on the increase in the valuation of their shares and the gains from stock options.
Deviations
The study also reveals that "
the pay gap between founders and founders is very significant with a median pay lower of 33% for women
".
The situation has deteriorated since 2019 when the gap was 28%.
"
The very clear difference observed is strongly linked to the amounts raised
", lower among the founders than among the founders, justifies the study.
But this factor alone is not sufficient to explain why the increase in recent years has "
benefited men much more than women
", admits the think tank.