Archive for January 2015
Shutterstock's 2014 Trends include Blurry Backgrounds, Selfies & Zentangle
In Shutterstock’s 2014 Creative Trends Infographic, selfies, quirky music, and blurred backgrounds all emerged (or continued) as trends in the advertising, film, and media industries worldwide. However, the list doesn’t stop just there! This is just a sample from the various areas that the report covers. Each year, Shutterstock, a company that provides digital imagery […]
Digital surpasses written press to become #2 advertising channel in France
The dominance of online advertising has been predicted for some time, but it looks like it’s finally reaching it’s coming of age in France. For the first time ever, advertising via digital media has overtake the press to become the #2 advertising channel in France, as found in a recent study by PwC. According to the study, Internet […]
iDATE predicts 123 million Wearables by 2018
Today there are roughly 20 million Wearables sold around the world (total 2014), but France-based tech think tank iDATE anticipate that the Wearables will explode in the coming years, reaching a total of 123 million devices sold by 2018. Of that 123 million they predict that connected watches will account a majority, 65% of […]
Looking to shake-up the online classifieds space, mondebarras.fr raises €2.1 million
BonCoin has long been the one of the top leaders in France’s online classifieds and second-hand sales space. mondebarras.fr, which is owned by eMotion Map is looking to change all that with the announcement that they’ve closed a 3rd round of funding, this time at €2.1 million. BonCoin isn’t, of course, the only player in this […]
OVH seeks to bring the cloud to the masses with hubiC cloud storage cards
Not limiting itself to businesses, OVH is looking to bring consumers directly into the OVH fold. The consumer cloud market, with everything from iCloud to Google’s Cloud platform, to services like Dropbox or Box, consumers are getting increasingly comfortable with storing their information in the cloud. However, OVH reckons that the active use of these […]
Closing the gap between R and D, Bpifrance formally redefines Innovation
This week Bpifrance, the French investment bank which is financed by the French government, announced that it would be changing its criteria for determining if potential investments are innovative. The new definition will see Innovation defined not only as hard technological innovation (think ‘patents’), but will incorporate 5 new criteria – product innovation, service & use, behavior & organization, marketing & […]
How to negotiate your compensation (with a French angle)
As a new year begins, the time is appropriate to prepare for an annual professional assessment. This should involve an introspective self-assessment, to reflect on one’s professional ambitions and career trajectory (a process I strongly endorse, at least one a year). For salaried workers in France at all levels, the yearly assessment usually also involves […]
NewWind raises €1.1 Million for its Urban Tree-Shaped Wind Turbine
French green tech company, NewWind, just raised over 1.1€ million for its product, l’Arbre à Vent. A wind turbine in the form of a tree, this device is capable of generating enough electricity for a family of four, or about 3.5kW of energy. The innovation comes in the silent spin of the light-weight metallic leaves […]
SimpleMail raises €1.3 Million to do email marketing smart
There are plenty of solutions to help companies send emails – my favorite for sending newsletters is Mailchimp, and we also use their sister product Mandrill for sending transactional emails (emails triggered by user actions, which differ from newsletter emails in that each email is customized and sent on a 1-to-1 basis). However, Kiwup, the startup […]
Looking to rival Viadeo and LinkedIn, Amplement raises €1 million
Many professional social networks have come and gone, but LinkedIn continues to remain on top of the heap. However, Viadeo, arguably LinkedIn’s biggest rival, continues to hold their own, particularly in China where they are the market leader. Is there room for yet another professional network in the market that would be able to […]