Archive for June 2014
France’s biggest Kickstarter success Lima raises $2.5M Series A from Partech Ventures
Crowdfunding as a stepping stone to Venture Funding? Yes, Please. Oculus Rift, Thalmic Labs, and Lima all have that in common, as the later has just secured a $2.5M Series A from Partech ventures, after raising a wopping $1.2 Million on Kickstarter last year. Co-founded by Severin Marcombes & Gawen Arab, the announcement that the […]
Can We Save Ourselves with Technology? Gary Atkinson Tells us about the Future at Connected Conference
Recently, Ray Kurtweil, a well known expert in Artificial Intelligence and Google’s head of engineering, commented that robots will be smarter than us by 2029. This made us think about where technology is really going and how much we are looking forward to hearing Gary Atkinson talk at the Connected Conference on June 18 in […]
France Digitale Day #2 will be ‘Talkin’ about a revolution’ on June 11th
Last year, France Digitale demonstrated yet again their ability to mobilize and inspire France’s tech ecosystem with their hugely successful first France Digitale Day, which welcomed over 800 participants and pretty much every key mover and shaker in France’s tech ecosystem. This year’s edition, #FDD2, looks to be even more ambitious, with over 1000 attendees, […]
Supporting startups with a wealth tax break
I’ve been known to jokingly refer to this time of year the “easy money period” for startups in France. The reason for this is that late May and ultimately June 15 represent the filing deadlines for wealth tax in France. The French wealth tax, l’impôt de solidarité sur la fortune, or ISF for short, represents […]
In Paris, the first ‘haut de gamme’ connected hardware retail chain gets ready to launch
Here in Paris, a chain of haut de gamme, luxury technology retail stores is opening up this June. The retail chain LICK, which bought up 17 The Phone Shop stores after the company ceased activity in France, provides a curated store where brands can display approved products, which LICK salesmen master in order to educate […]
Axelle Lemaire speaks on France’s investment in the Internet of Things
With the Connected Conference coming up in June, we’re excited to announce that Axelle Lemaire will be among the 50 speakers at the Connected Conference, speaking at noon on June 19th. When we first set out to create the Connected Conference, we decided that we would not give any preferential treatment to speakers based in […]
Reduce your Health Insurance bill by tracking steps with wearables
Wearables were a big disappointment in 2013 – consumers were looking for more from their fitness tracker than a pedometer. However, what if tracking your fitness resulted in real tangible advantages? Well, Withings and AXA have done just that – the two announced a partnership today which offers AXA customers a free Withings Pulse (retail price: […]
Startup Assembly, where 500+ startups across France will open their doors on June 12-14th
As France’s tech ecosystem continues to grow at a healthy clip and increase its notoriety with the global tech community, the wider French public often seems unaware of much of this. Futur en Seine has worked over the last several years to address this problem, by hosting various events within its annual tech festival […]
Commerce Guys pull in €5.3 Million for their Drupal “Platform” play
Paris and Michigan-based Commerce Guys have raised a €5.3 Million Series from Hi Inov, ISAI, Alven Capital & Open Ocean Capital. The announcement comes just weeks after the company rolled out Platform, a PaaS hosting solution that allows for seamless continuous development, focusing on seamless push-to-prod. Commerce Guys launched in 2010, and the bulk of […]