Uber Taxi in Paris: an Uber for the price of a taxi, or a Taxi for the price of an Uber?
Yesterday, Uber announced on their blog that Parisian Uber users will now be able to make user of Uber’s “Uber Taxi” feature, which allows users to hail taxis using Uber. The service has already rolled out in Chicago, DC, Toronto and San Francisco – in Paris, users have the choice between a Taxi, a “moto” […]
InstantLuxe announces €2 million round with Iris Capital and Isai
InstantLuxe, which was founded in 2009 by Yann Le Floc’h and is now the leading marketplace for second-hand luxury goods, announced yesterday that they raised a €2 million equity round with lead investor Iris Capital and Isai. The funds will be used to accelerate InstantLuxe’s growth by strengthening its position amongst luxury e-commerce platforms and […]
Following Bouygues, Orange’s and SFR’s low-cost offers both hit 1 million subscribers
Although Free threw them for a loop when they launched their mobile offer last year, the three ‘old school’ mobile operators look to finally be adapting to a radically altered space. Last month Bouygues was the first ‘old school’ telco to reach the 1 million subscriber market with their B&You low-cost offer late 2012. Now […]
Why is Cap Digital charging seed startups $12,000 for a 2 month Silicon Valley accelerator program?
Cap Digital recently announced a new French acceleration program in the Silicon Valley intended to help French startups ‘immerse themselves’ in the US Market. The non-profit business cluster is working alongside US Market Access Center (US MAC), a non-profit Silicon Valley-based accelerator, to bring 5 startups ‘intensive mentoring’ during a two-month program, 3-4 weeks of […]
Oliver Samwers new €150M Global Venture Fund: “We invest in all rounds!”
Look out ladies, there’s a new fund in town: late last night, an announcement spread through bloggers’ emails announcing a new fund – Global Founders Capital – started by Oliver Samwers (of Rocket Internet, among other things) and Fabian Siegel.(Delivery Hero). The fund’s announcement is fairly general: Global Founders Capital will invest into all stages […]
Apple to pay 50,000€ for keeping employees working 1 hour after closing in France
A Paris court ruled today that 7 Apple Stores, which formally were open until 10:00PM, must close at 9:00PM, as per French law. In the official statement, the court ruled a “ban on Apple France from having salaried employees work between 9:00PM and 6:00AM,” with a penalty of 50,000€ to be imposed in the case […]
Festicket raises a $680K Seed Round to sell package deals for music festivals in Europe
Festicket announced today that they have raised a $680,000 seed-funding round in order to expand out their festival package deal site, which allows users to purchase ticket, accommodation, transport & extras all in one click. Reported originally by Steve O’hear of TechCrunch, Festicket launched in 2012, by Zack Sabban and Nathan Younes, as they encountered difficulties […]
After raising 25M€, Spartoo.com expands beyond shoes and handbags to clothing
Grenoble-based, online footwear and handbag retailer Spartoo, which was founded in 2006 by new grads Jérémie Touchard, Boris Saragaglia, and Paul Lorne, has been on a whirlwind ride over the last few years. Following on news of their having reached 12M unique visitors per month, achieved a 20 fold increase in sales over three years and raised a 25M€ series […]
Alven Capital close to closing their 120 million euro fourth fund
Alven Capital announced this week on their blog that they are “very close to reaching their hard cap of 120M€,” and thus closing their 4th fund, Alven Capital IV. The firm, which has made investments in iAdvize, Drivy, Mailjet, Textmaster, Qosmos, Commerce Guys & more, has been pretty quiet lately, despite a few good exits in […]
Stonehenge Telecom acquires French Software Vendor Supranetcom
At Mobile Web Congress in Barcelona this week, Stonehenge Telecom Holdings has announced the acquisition Supranetcom, a Paris-based software vendor who specializes in the design of telecom software platforms for delivering Value-Added Services (VAS) and Mobile Financial Services (MFS). The acquisition, which occurred last May 2012, has expanded Stonehenge’s offering in the Telecom space, and has […]