When it was created in 2008, Pearltrees belonged to a generation that has now largely disappeared. That of Web 2.0, collaborative platforms, content curation and emerging social networks. At the time, Facebook had not yet become the global advertising giant it is today, the iPhone was only a year old and the application economy was still embryonic.
Eighteen years later, the company founded by Patrice Lamothe boasts more than 1.5 million users in French middle and high schools, a recurring turnover of more than 10 million euros and a presence in more than 2,000 educational establishments. Above all, it welcomes two new major shareholders: the Strategic Transitions Fund (FST), managed by ISALT, which takes 46% of the capital, and RAISE Sustainable Value, managed by RAISE Impact, which now holds 31%, the amount of the investment has not been communicated.
This evolution of shareholding marks the opening of a new chapter. After having built its development on a largely self-financed model, Pearltrees now aims to accelerate its investments in artificial intelligence, to strengthen its presence in French education and to consider European expansion. A trajectory that tells as much the story of a company as that of the evolution of French digital sovereignty.
The unexpected survivor of the Web 2.0 generation
Upon its creation, Pearltrees quickly attracted interest from the technology ecosystem. The company raises 3.8 million euros from web entrepreneurs, business angels and family offices. It is recognized by OSEO as a “disruptive innovation” and is among the five most innovative startups selected at the LaunchPad of the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco in 2010.
The initial project consists of organizing and sharing information on the Internet through a visual representation of content. At a time when the web already produces an increasing quantity of information, Pearltrees seeks to respond to a problem that has become central: how to find, structure and transmit knowledge.
The story could have ended there. Many companies of this generation have disappeared, been absorbed or never found a sustainable business model. Pearltrees followed a different trajectory.
The company has gone through several successive technological breakthroughs: the explosion of mobile, the generalization of the cloud, the rise of SaaS, the emergence of collaborative platforms, then the arrival of generative artificial intelligence. Each cycle has reshuffled the cards in the technology sector. Few French players created before the French Tech wave can today claim a strong position in their market while remaining independent.
Focus on education
The major change comes when Pearltrees identifies a market where its technology meets a structural need: education.
Gradually, the platform evolves from a general curation tool towards a working environment intended for teachers and students. This transformation occurs neither through spectacular acquisition nor through a sudden change of strategy. It results from gradual adoption by the teaching staff and product specialization work carried out over several years.
The result is significant today. Pearltrees claims more than 30% of French secondary school teachers and students among its users, as well as a penetration rate of more than 75% among teachers.
The company has also developed a digital textbook offering, called Manuels Ouverts, which already represents more than 10% of the French digital textbook market in less than three years. She works with several major educational publishers as well as teachers and National Education inspectors.
This progression is all the more notable as the EdTech sector remains one of the most difficult to industrialize. Decision cycles are long, buyers are numerous, regulatory constraints are strong and budgets are often limited. Few companies manage to reach significant size without lasting dependence on external financing.
Educational AI as the new frontier
If Pearltrees is changing scale today, it is also because a new technological cycle is opening.
The company has developed Spirit, an educational assistant based on artificial intelligence. The objective is no longer just to provide digital content or resources, but to directly assist teachers in their daily tasks.
Course preparation, creation of exercises, adaptation of content, correction or educational support: AI is called upon to intervene throughout the teaching cycle.
The difference with the first generative AI tools is important. It’s no longer just about producing text on demand. The ambition is to build agents capable of executing complete work sequences.
According to the company, almost half of the active teachers on the platform already use Spirit. If this adoption is confirmed, Pearltrees would then have one of the most important experimental grounds for educational AI in France.
The challenge goes far beyond the automation of administrative tasks. Artificial intelligence opens up the prospect of much finer personalization of learning paths, a subject on which the education system has long encountered resource and organizational constraints.
Education becomes a subject of sovereignty
However, artificial intelligence is only part of the equation.
The speech made by Pearltrees and its new shareholders highlights another issue, that of digital sovereignty.
Long confined to debates on the cloud, critical infrastructures or health data, this question now extends to education. The digital platforms used daily by teachers and students are becoming strategic assets.
Large American technology groups are strengthening their positions in educational establishments. Collaborative tools, office suites, AI assistants and cloud services are gradually constituting a technological layer essential to the functioning of the education system.
In this context, the question of control of data, educational content and artificial intelligence models takes on a new dimension.
The entry of ISALT and RAISE Impact is part of this logic. Beyond the profitability of the company, the two investors defend the idea that certain digital infrastructures must maintain a French or European anchor when they occupy a central place in sectors considered strategic.
Education thus joins a list which already includes health, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructures and even defense technologies.
The European challenge
The French market now constitutes a solid base for Pearltrees. The company shows its ambition to gradually develop in other European countries. This perspective, however, opens up a challenge of a completely different nature, because Europe does not have a unified educational market. School curricula differ, languages multiply, administrative systems vary and funding models remain largely national.
Eighteen years after being identified among the most promising startups, Pearltrees finds itself faced with a paradox. The company born at the heart of the Web 2.0 wave is perhaps only now entering its most strategic phase. The one where it ceases to be a startup to become a player in educational digital infrastructure, confronted with the challenges of artificial intelligence, sovereignty and European change of scale.
