This article presents our latest research and thinking on startup salaries in France, job market trends and how companies compare.
Candidates, and recruiters and founders too, often firmly believe that startups pay less than other organisations. The market trend we describe here shows that this is changing significantly.
Startup salary table in France by function and level of experience
We surveyed startup employees to determine the average pay for each function. The study aims to help candidates benchmark themselves against the market, and recruiters and founders adjust their job offers accordingly. Alongside this survey, the figures below draw on our experience of the many recruitment assignments we have carried out.
Note: the salary ranges below mainly apply to candidates based in Paris, the wider Paris region or other large French cities.
C-Level and Head of salaries
Junior C-Level: 5-7 years of experience, generally in an early-stage startup
Senior C-Level: >10 years of experience, in a later-stage startup or a scale-up
Marketing salaries
👉 Find out more in our article: Marketing salaries.
Sales salaries
👉 To dig deeper into sales salaries, read our article: Sales salaries.
Salaries in Operations and Support functions
Product & Design salaries
👉 For a closer look at product salaries, read our article on product salaries.
Data salaries
👉 More information on data salaries.
Developer salaries
A junior developer’s starting salary falls between €35k and €45k, depending on their degree and the technologies they master. Mobile developers, for example, rarely earn less than €40k/42k a year (the average junior developer salary), because they are in short supply.
After that, add €2,000 to €4,000 per year of experience (€150 to €400 a month).
For more information, read our dedicated article on developer salaries.
👉 Hiring developers? Visit our dedicated page: Tech Recruitment Agency.
HR salaries
Startups structure their HR function in stages: first a recruiter to keep up with team growth, then an HR generalist (HRBP or HR Manager) once admin and retention become bigger issues, and finally a Head of People who oversees everything. The two tracks have separate pay scales: recruitment starts lower on base salary but makes up part of the gap with variable pay, while the generalist track starts around €10k higher.
Above these levels, a Head of People in a startup earns between €55k and €75k, a VP People in a scale-up between €85k and €120k, and an HR Director at group level more than €130k.
👉 For a detailed breakdown by role and seniority, read our article on HR salaries.
Finance salaries
The finance function is built up in the same way: first a management accountant or an accounting manager, then a Finance Manager or FP&A Manager as investor reporting becomes more professional, and later a finance director. Hybrid finance and data people, who can automate reporting as well as analyse it, are paid above these ranges.
Above these levels, a first-time DAF (French finance director) earns between €60k and €80k, an experienced DAF between €80k and €110k, and a scale-up CFO more than €150k.
👉 For a detailed breakdown by role and seniority, read our article on Finance salaries.
Why do salaries vary from one startup to another?
For the same job (same level of experience, expertise, function…), salaries can differ drastically between two startups. Several factors come into play.
A startup’s maturity
In theory, the pattern is as follows:
The earlier-stage a company is, the further below market its salaries will be. Conversely, the more the startup has grown and moved into its scaling phase, the more competitive its salaries will be. In return for a lower salary, an early-stage startup will generally offer its employees shares or equity in the form of BSPCE (French startup stock warrants). The bigger the company grows, the fewer BSPCE it grants:
- 5 to 10% of the shares may be given to non-founding partners
- 1 to 3% for the company’s first employees
- Less than 1% for the others (except when hiring certain C-level executives)
Beyond maturity, these salary differences really come down to the funds available to the startup or scale-up. To pay its employees well, a company must either run a profitable business (high revenue and/or high margins) or have raised substantial funds.
This explains why many early-stage startups are unable to offer very competitive salaries. They generally have:
- A limited number of customers, and therefore limited revenue
- A product that is not yet very profitable, as there are no economies of scale yet
- Limited funds: they have not raised any money yet, or have closed a first round of under one million euros.
Conversely, an early-stage startup with high margins and/or a funding round of several million euros may well offer very competitive salaries, on a par with what you find in a scale-up.
So not all young startups pay below market rates. The salary on offer depends more on the amounts raised and the margins achieved than on the company’s age.
A startup’s sector
We often hear about salary differences between the sectors in which startups operate. For example, fintechs are known for paying well, whereas foodtechs generally sit in lower ranges.
In reality, this follows from the previous point. The question to ask is: is this sector profitable? Is there a lot of capital in this sector?
A startup selling a physical product will inevitably have lower margins than one developing a SaaS. It is also easier to raise large sums in sectors such as fintech or blockchain than in foodtech, where competition is fierce and the market therefore more crowded.
The sector is a good indicator of pay levels, since it reflects a company’s ability to build a profitable product and hold substantial cash reserves.
Startup recruitment market trends in France and their impact on salaries
The economic recovery in 2020 and 2021, combined with the rise of tech in France, boosted the recruitment market and created an unprecedented situation.
A shortage of managerial and professional staff (cadres) was felt across the entire job market. French Tech and startups were hit hardest.
This tight recruitment market pushed companies to raise salaries. Whereas candidates from large companies or consulting firms once had to make significant sacrifices to join a startup, this is less and less the case, as startups (and mainly scale-ups) manage to offer competitive salaries that sometimes exceed pay at management consulting firms.
A few examples of roles where salaries have soared (see the startup salary table):
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Acquisition marketing roles: Traffic Manager, Growth Manager, CRM Manager, Product Marketing Manager.
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All C-Level roles: CTO, Head of Sales, COO, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)…
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Sales and Business Development roles, even for junior roles filled by new graduates: Business Developer, Account Manager, Account Executive
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And of course, all tech and product roles: Fullstack Developer, Back-End Developer, Front-End Developer, Product Manager, Data Analyst
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Recruitment itself, now a key issue, with the Talent Acquisition Manager role
To raise pay, startups increasingly offer a larger variable component, on the American model. This is especially true for commercial roles in sales and marketing, but it is spreading to other roles too.
The slowdown in startup recruitment during the economic crisis of 2023 to 2025 halted this sharp rise in salaries.
Finally, beyond salary, it can be useful to think in terms of real purchasing power, particularly for junior employees. Depending on your household situation, benefits such as the prime d’activité (French in-work benefit) can supplement income. To estimate it, the simplest way is to run a simulation on an expert website such as MesAllocs.fr, after signing the contract or when your pay changes.
How founders’ salaries are evolving in France
For founders, the benchmark remains the survey by the Galion Project, the think tank of French tech entrepreneurs. Its 2026 edition, conducted among 200 CEOs, 16% of them women, marks a break with the spectacular increases of the post-2021 years: the median gross annual base salary has not moved in two years and still stands at €120,000. The median target salary, including variable pay, reaches €130,000, and 41% of founders top up their base salary with a bonus (compared with 38% in 2024).
The real movement is at the bottom of the distribution. The 25th percentile rises from €85,000 to €100,000, an increase of nearly 18%, while the 75th percentile remains stable at €150,000. In other words, the lowest-paid founders are moving closer to the average, and the pay range is narrowing.
The amount raised remains the main driver of pay gaps, but it no longer works quite as it did before:
Team size tells the same story: a median of €95,000 below 20 employees, €120,000 between 20 and 49, €130,000 between 50 and 99, and €160,000 above 100 people. The first three brackets rose by 18 to 20% in two years, the last by only 7%.
Another sign of the times: profitability is becoming a pay criterion in its own right. 39% of the startups surveyed say they are profitable, compared with 27% in 2024, and their CEOs report a median salary of €141,000, compared with €110,000 for the others. Raising a lot of money is no longer the only path to a comfortable leadership salary.
On the gender pay gap, the 2026 edition corrects the trend we reported in previous versions of this article. The gap between male and female founders has narrowed by 36% in two years: the median for female founders rose from €85,000 to €95,000, while that of male founders remained at €120,000. The residual gap nevertheless remains around 21%, and the Galion Project notes a paradox: it narrows sharply at the early stage, but widens as the amounts raised increase, a segment where women are still under-represented.
Finally, two figures are a reminder that running a company is about more than the salary line: 70% of founders have no unemployment insurance for company executives, and only 35% have made a partial cash-out during a funding round.
How to negotiate your salary at a French startup
Negotiating your salary and getting a raise in a startup can be somewhat different from doing so in an established company, as startups often have different pay structures and financial resources. Here are a few tips:
Do your research
- Understand the startup’s financial health and its funding stage.
- Look into average salaries for your role in your industry and region.
Assess the overall offer
- In addition to salary, consider benefits such as stock options, flexible working hours, growth opportunities and other non-monetary benefits.
- Be prepared to balance a lower salary against potential long-term benefits such as equity in the company.
Highlight your value
- Prepare strong arguments demonstrating your value to the company, based on your skills, experience and past successes.
- Show how you can contribute to the startup’s success and growth.
Be flexible
- Startups may have budget constraints, so being open to negotiating terms other than base salary can be beneficial.
- Consider the possibility of reviewing your salary after a given period or following a performance review.
Be ready to bargain
- Prepare to respond to counter-offers.
- Have a clear idea of your minimum acceptable salary, but do not reveal it at the start of the negotiation.
Communicate effectively
- Be professional, courteous and confident in your communication.
- Negotiate in person if possible, or by phone/video call, rather than by email.
Consider the timing
- The best time to negotiate may be after receiving an offer but before accepting it.
- Negotiating too early or too late in the process may be less effective.
Be ready to explore the job market if necessary
- If the offer does not meet your needs and negotiations are going nowhere, be prepared to look elsewhere.
- However, do not bluff. Be sincere about your intentions.
To go further, read our dedicated article: how to negotiate your salary at a startup.
