Archive for April 2016
Safran & Visa team up to upgrade biometry in the payments space
Morpho (Safran Group), a leader in the development of security solution and identity verification technologies, teams up with Visa Europe to present two innovative technologies in the context an exhibition “Visa Explore Le Monde” currently taking place in Paris until April 23rd. ‘MorphoWave’, the first contactless technology in the world able to capture and identify up to […]
A European perspective on Japan Fintech
Yesterday I was unexpectedly invited to join a live broadcast at the Tokyo Bankers Association discussing Fintech. It appears that many of the market dynamics affecting the financial sector in Europe are similar in Japan, so I touched on these. While one could argue that the landscape for European Fintech startups has reached saturation levels […]
NUMA launches joint venture in Mexico to continue its ambitious international expansion
NUMA has taken the next big step toward realizing its global dreams by announcing a joint venture that brings the Paris-based accelerator to Mexico City. NUMA México will be its fifth location outside of Paris, and comes on the heels of an expansion to Barcelona. Arnaud Chaigneau of NUMA said in an interview that Mexico City offered tremendous potential […]
How France’s Linkurious helped reporters use data visualization to make sense of the Panama Papers
The release of the Panama Papers this week marks one of the largest data leaks journalists have ever received. It turns out a small French company played a crucial role in helping a massive consortium of journalists conduct their investigation. Linkurious, based in Paris, is a startup developing a solution that helps organizations visualize and […]
Partech Shaker wants to make its Paris campus a gateway to Europe for U.S. companies
In the latest effort to make Paris the heart of Europe’s startup scene, Partech Shaker announced a new program today designed to help U.S.-based startups navigate the complex rules and regulations as they seek to expand into the continent. Dubbed “Europe Made Easy,” the program will offer a network of contacts in human resources, legal, accounting and […]
Accor acquires Onefinestay, the luxury Airbnb
Paris-based and Europe’s leading hotel operator AccorHotels Group, announced today the €148M acquisition of Onefinestay, a London-based company specializing in luxury serviced home rental. The company operates a portfolio of 2,600 properties under exclusive management, with locations in London, New York, Paris, Los Angeles and also Rome starting June. Accor also plans to invest a […]
Tiller Systems closes a €4M round led by 360 Capital Partners to expand in Europe
Tiller Systems, a cash-register management solution company created in 2014, just raised €4M in its second round of funding led by 360 Capital Partners, along with various business angels such as Nicolas Sireyjol (former American Express France CEO), Damien Guermonprez (Lemonway) or Thierry Petit (Showroomprive). This new round of funding will allow the young startup to support […]
Lydia announces first Slack payment service and European expansion plans
Paris-based Lydia said today that it has developed the first-ever payment app for Slack, the rapidly growing messaging and collaboration platform. The announcement came at the Money 20/20 conference in Copenhagen today. In an interview, Lydia CEO Cyril Chiche said it made sense for the company to plug into a service that is expanding rapidly […]
P2P Car Rental Service Koolicar raises €18M from French auto giant PSA Peugeot Citroën
PSA Peugeot Citroën joins Koolicar‘s capital for €18M, along with MAIF, historical partner of the car-sharing startup since 2010. Koolicar launched its service in 2012, present in 40 French agglomerations with already more than 60,000 registered users. The most valuable asset of the startup is undoubtedly the connected device they use in every car, which […]
Vodkaster launches Kickstarter campaign to take its DVD-based movie streaming service global
Confident that their DVD-swapping service has fallen on the right side of copyright laws for movie streaming, the founders of Paris-based Vodkaster are now planning to make the service available around the world next year. The company announced the first phase of that expansion strategy recently when it launched a Kickstarter campaign last week for the […]