Archive for February 2015
Indiegogo's new Perk Insurance underscores campaign deliverability dilemmas
Indiegogo is in the process of rolling out a new service that it is calling ‘Perk Insurance’. This new option lets crowdfunders purchase an insurance to receive a refund of their pledge amount, not including the cost of the insurance, if a campaign never materializes. This is a first attempt at answering that question if […]
Rentabiliweb strategy validated with positive 2014 results
In recent years, Rentabiliweb has shifted significantly the core of its strategy from B-to-C (meeting sites, online games, or SMS payments) to B-to-B (payments, direct marketing, etc). Or, more specifically as pointed out in Les Echos, evolving into a full-service fintech company. Launch of new products and services, such as the highly successful Be2Bill payment […]
Gemalto responds to The Great SIM Heist, "this truly emphasizes how serious cyber security is"
Information revealed earlier this week in documents leaked by Edward Snowden to The Intercept suggest that the US & UK governments cooperated in a cyberattack that gave them access to the Keys which encrypt SIM cards, allowing them access to any and all data & calls from mobile phones. The news, which is the latest in a series of […]
Europe's War against US Tech Giants is seeing increasing Friendly Fire incidents
It’s not news that France is in a hot war against digital US companies – even Barack Obama is in the loop. The two-fold motivation of foregone tax revenue for the government by digital goods being sold from tax havens, as well as the foregone revenue by incumbent local leaders who are seeing their very way […]
Axel Springer-owned AuFeminin Group acquires US media Livingly
Axel Springer subsidiary AuFeminin Group has acquired Livingly Media, the latter reported today. Livingly, which operates websites popular with women in the US – Zimbio.com, Stylebistro.com, and Lonny.com – represents a big opportunity for AuFeminin group, which sees 33 Million visitors across 17 markets, including the United States, with themes ranging from health & fitness to […]
French hardware campaigns aren't waiting for Kickstarter to launch in France
Rumors circled this week that Kickstarter would be launching in France, meaning that crowdfunding projects based in France can now… well, come from France. Kickstarter has since denied these rumors. Previously, European companies were encouraged to use the British website, requiring the currency to be in pound sterlin(£) – alternatively, many French companies opted to open up a […]
Criteo beats its 2014 estimates and announces Datapop acquistion
Criteo’s impressive growth story continued with force in 2014, propelled by its multi-screen ad solution, roll-out of their new prediction engine, and overall strong performance in the US market. Yesterday, Criteo announced at 68% jump in 2014 revenues to €744 million and 71% alone in Q4, which beat all estimates for the adtech company. As the WSJ […]
Criteo acquires data specialist DataPop, market cap passes $2.5 Billion
Criteo releases its Q4 2014 results, and Wall Street is happy. 4th quarter revenue is up 69% compared to 2013 at €233 Million, and the company is up to 7,000 clients & 9,000 publishers. The company also announced the acquisition of Los Angeles-based DataPop, a 40-employee startup which specializes in connecting the products a retailer’s catalog to user shopping […]
Uber goes on the offensive against France, pressures European Commission
Uber’s going over the French Government, which passed the Thévenoud Law late last year in an effort to appease demands of the Taxi commission. The law, which is named after its since-deposed legislator, restricts Uber’s ability to operate, and, while Uber’s appeal in France is still ongoing, a verdict on whether to ban UberPop, the company’s low cost, peer-to-peer […]
Orange fights back competition to hit solid 2014 targets
Although Orange is still dealing with an increasingly telco environment, 2014 proved to be a year of return to stability for the group after years of price wars and cutthroat competition kicked-off by the entry of Free Mobile. After falling 0.1 points in 2013, their EBITDA fell in-line with their targets, coming in at 12.190 billion […]