Archive for January 2014

[CES 2014] Withings launches Aura, a bedtime companion that tracks your sleep from under the covers

Sleep tracking seems to be getting hotter every day with many companies jumping in with their own sleep tracking methods. Some use wrist-worn devices and others head masks that cover your eyes. Now, the Paris-based company Withings is looking to offer a new way to track those sleeping hours with the Aura. The Aura uses […]

Whyd raises $700K & launches the public beta of its Music Social Network

Whyd raises $700K & launches the public beta of its Music Social Network

Music social network Whyd has raised $700,000 from angel investors, including business angel & entrepreneur Serge Alleyne, and opened up their network to the public, after a year-long private beta. Allowing users to share songs from video services like YouTube, Vimeo & Dailymotion, as well as audio services like Soundcloud, Whyd finds itself at the intersection […]

Why is Qatar investing in French e-Commerce and how does France get more benefit from it

Why is Qatar investing in French e-Commerce and how does France get more benefit from it

The French e-commerce website vente-privee.com is welcoming a sounding investor to its shareholder structure – Qatar Holding. The investing fund is a sovereign fund from Qatar and a very prestigious name to bear as an investor given the brands it usually invests in. Such is the case of the Harrods Group, which was purchased by […]

Startup Wars Episode 5: France Strikes Back

You may not even have bothered reading the Newsweek article which ran last Friday, entitled “The Fall of France.” Indeed, you wouldn’t have seen anything different in the article, which borrows its name from a phrase coined during World War II for France’s surrender to Nazis six weeks after invasion, that you haven’t already read in […]

Next to Instagram, Tumblr & ask.fm, Melty.fr reaches Top 10 sites for Generation Y in France

Facebook may be bleeding young users – not that we care – but Instagram & Tumblr are still holding strong in France and around the world; however, in November, melty.fr became the only news media site to enter Mediametre’s list of the Top 10 sites most frequented by youth aged 15-24. Coming in at 8th […]

[CES 2014] Parrot shows off its yet-to-launch low-cost Mini Drone & Two-Wheeler

During demo sessions, Parrot’s AR Drone has become a fan favorite, and a leader in the quadcopter space. Able to be piloted by an iPhone, a leap-motion, a Myo, or almost any other controller on the market today, the quadcopters like the AR Drone have been used to shoot live performances at Versailles, to shoot […]

[CES 2014] Netatmo’s June UV-sensor wristband tells you how much sun is too much.

Connected objects startup Netatmo has been using hardware to take care of your home for the past few years, with its connected smoke detector & its air-quality detector; however, it seems Netatmo was really looking to make life easier for families. In Las Vegas this week at CES, you’ll find founder Fred Potter and the Netatmo team […]

The fundamental difference between French & German social habits

With all the pressure from the outside world for Facebook to become a more transparent company, investors will be very pleased to look at the latest disclosed information on mobile Facebook usage – and with it valuable information of country-specific behavior. It was not without a fight that Facebook has been holding back to its […]

Point Nine Capital wishes a Happy New Year with discounts on its entire portfolio company

German VC Point Nine is celebrating New Year in style with some big discounts for its users. Point Nine has funded a number of early stage Internet startups in sectors like online platforms, SaaS, ecommerce and others. If you aren’t familiar with this fund you will certainly have heard of some of its companies, like […]

Connected devices: Archos’ plans for home domination

French company Archos is stepping out to give us a preview of what it will show the world at CES, which starts in less than a week. In an unsurprising move, Archos is introducing a whole range of connected devices for the home that will interact with iOS and Android phones to give users the […]