Archive for April 2016
Bpifrance leads $35M investment into Acco to boost the expansion of its breakthrough technology
ACCO Semiconductor, the leader in CMOS RF solutions for smartphones and IoT, announced today the closing of a $35M funding round led by Bpifrance, one of the largest funding commitments to a semiconductor company. The French-American company whose main R&D center is based in Louveciennes, located in the western suburbs of Paris, is currently accelerating its business […]
Vente-privee acquisition march accelerates with purchase of Spain’s Privalia
Vente-privee took another step toward expanding its European reach today when it announced the acquisition of Spanish e-commerce site Privalia. While the acquisition price for Barcelona-based Privalia was not disclosed, the news was confirmed in a blog post by Index Ventures. Privalia is popular in Spain and Italy, but it had also recently expanded to Brazil and Mexico. […]
5 lessons from Intercom about product development for French entrepreneurs
Paul Adams, vice president of product at Intercom When your company is red-hot, like Intercom, there are probably lots of things it can teach entrepreneurs. Intercom recently announced it had raised another $50 million in venture capital, bringing its total to $112 million. The company is trying to reinvent the way businesses communicate with their customers. […]
Foreign Exchange’s future is powered by SaaS
Finance is an ever-changing industry and some important challenges are getting overcome by people rethinking the concepts that have been anchored in our financial systems for years. This is the reason why at Rude Baguette, we’ve decided to organize our first conference dedicated to the future of finance, it’s called SPEND and it will take place April […]
Mobile messaging: is it (finally) the Americans’ time ?
Long time readers of this blog will recognize my fascination with mobile messaging apps for a while now (Don’t shoot the Messenger, Line vs WeChat, My personalized Line stickers, etc.). For years now I’ve argued that the modern wave of messaging rose in Asia, with the West playing catch-up. Last year I wrote about my […]
GoCardless is making direct debit easier in France
English company GoCardless has started its activity in France almost one year ago day to day. Since then, they developed partnerships with companies such as Habitat or LaFourchette, growing four times faster there than when they launched in the UK. The London-based company has been founded by young entrepreneur Hiroki Takeuchi in 2011. The startup provides a simple to […]
After backing Blablacar, Showroomprivé & Deliveroo, Accel raises new $500M Fund
Accel, one of the world’s leading venture capital firms, announced a new $500M fund, with a focus on investing mostly in European and Israeli companies. The firm confirmed that France has been and will remain a key market for their investments. Back in 2000, Accel opened its London office with the strategy to partner with entrepreneurs, who […]
Sigfox deal with Microsoft latest sign of IOT startup’s torrid pace of global expansion in 2016
No one can accuse Sigfox of thinking small. Since the Toulouse-based company announced its then-record €100 Million round of venture financing in February 2015, the company has been pressing hard to made good on its plans for global expansion. It’s move to enter the U.S. market last year was one of its biggest gambles. But […]
Citymapper calls out RATP for blocking real-time data; agency says system needs upgrade (Updated)
This story was updated with comments throughout from RATP at 19h20 CET. Citymapper has launched an online petition drive to rally users to its side as it finds itself fighting a decision by Paris’ public transportation agency over access to real-time bus data. [UPDATE] A spokesmen for Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens said in an interview […]
HomeRez announces €4 million fundraising conducted by Entrepreneur Venture and XAnge
Rental properties booking and distribution service HomeRez has raised €4 million in a round conducted by Entrepreneur Venture, XAnge, and several business angels including David Roche (ex-President Hotels.com), Nicolas Brumelot (Founder Go Voyage, Founder MisterFly), Pablo Szefner (Justfab) and Frederic Halley. The Paris-based startup is a centralised service for the booking of holiday rental properties, it is the brainchild of three former […]