Archive for January 2013
Phonotive raises 400K€ for Touchalize, interactive ads for mobile.
After we profiled their flagship product Touchalize for the 2012 LeWeb Paris Startup Competition, Phonotive has announced a seed round of 400K€, invested by DP Invest (the investment arm of the Midi-Pyrhennes region) and Capitole Angels, a business angel network in the region. Though they weren’t among the 3 French startups who made it to […]
BlueKiwi founder and Pigeon movement co-creator Carlos Diaz raises $4M for Kwarter
Carlos Diaz, one of France’s most prominent serial entrepreneurs, will be adding a bit of cash to his most recent venture’s bank account. Kwarter, a social TV startup which works with brands to engage their viewers on the “second screen,” has raised $4 Million from T-Venture (Deutsche Telekom), as well as Kinetic Ventures. Diaz previously […]
Not surprisingly, the “French cloud” concept not taking off just yet
The ‘French Cloud’, aka Andromede then Numergy and Cloudwatt, is a concept that has a long way to go until it proves itself. Kurt Salmon, recently conducted a study examing how attractive Numergy’s and Cloudwatt’s offer is perceived by the French market. As mentioned previously, each of the newly created companies have centered their strategy […]
France continues to skirt around Net Neutrality legislation
The French government held a round table today at Bercy which included Fleur Pellerin, “Internet Minister.” The round table was meant to address the French government’s long-standing stance on Net Neutrality, which has been “neutral” insofar as they’ve done nothing concrete to stop ISPs. The issue has been heightened after ISP Free turned on an […]
Rude VC: Ode to the Salesperson
For the bulk of my portfolio companies, this is the time of year that I brace myself for a dip in financial performance. While the reasons differ, the effect in Q1 is similar. In the web and mobile companies whose products follow consumer buying patterns, the short month of February translates directly into fewer days […]
Appsfire releases figures: new users discovering 166 apps on average
Update: We originally posted that users discovered 11 apps on average, however this was based off of the number of clicktrhoughs to the App Store, not off the number of recommendation impressions – we have adjusted the title according to the 1.5 Billion impressions seen on the app. In the world of Mobile Apps promotion […]
European Commission report places French innovation as ‘average’
The European Commission’s Eurostat published figures this week on what percentage of companies in the various EU27 countries are, and the results were quite telling of the future of Europe. With an average of 53% of enterprises reporting innovative activity, Germany (79.3%), Luxembourg(68%) and Belgium(61%) scored highest, while France stumbled in at the average, 53%. […]
Pealk, the startup that hacked the LinkedIn API, acquired by Viadeo
We reported last year on Pealk, a Paris-based startup that had used the legal access to the LinkedIn API that they had been granted to provide users with the same functinoality that recruiters pay upwards of $7,000 per year for. Less than 6 months later, the startup, which was shut down after LinkedIn revoked their […]
Facebook’s head of sales in France to quit – trouble in paradise?
Former head of sales for MySpace in France, Damien Vincent will be leaving Facebook France as the end of March, according to JDN. Facebook has not announced Damien’s successor, but has noted that Carolyn Everson, Vice President of Global Marketing Solutions based in London, will not be taking the role, so it seems that will be […]
Everyone’s trying to figure out who the next big European Entrepreneur will be
What’s the deal with trying to identify the “next big entrepreneur” in Europe? Perhaps we’ve gotten tired of looking for the next big idea, and now it’s time to identify the next big entrepreneur. Award ceremonies for startups have always lived up to the Golden Globe-like atmosphere they try to give off, in that everyone […]