SPDY explained to my (clueless) cofounder
For a new technology enthusiast it’s always exciting to see Google throw its weight behind a new piece of technology, like it did with HTML5 or open video web formats. As a large web company devoted to open standards, Google sets the bar pretty high for the tools that it open sources. On the other […]
Rude VC: Before I hire you, tell me about your problems
I’ve noticed a typical recruiting occurence in the States sadly creeping into hiring processes in Europe, even among startups. I’m referring to the dreaded question during a job interview of: “What are your weaknesses?” “Tell me about your weaknesses” is an interview question with which I’ve always struggled. Without a doubt, it is far less […]
[EXCLUSIVE] BlaBlaCar offers 1 Million+ seat capacity on its ride-sharing marketplace [Infographic]
BlaBlaCar, formerly CoVoiturage.fr & Comuto, announced excitedly today that their European ride-sharing surface surpassed a monumental number today – there was a 1 Million+ seat capacity available as of June 18th, 2012. The ride-sharing car has seen explosive growth since 2009, as they outlined in the infographic below – to be exact, 135% annual growth year […]
Lagardère is finally buying Leguide.com
It looks like the on-going back-and-forth[FR] between Lagardère and Leguide.com is finally coming to a close. After having their first and second offers rejected by Leguide.com (at 24€/share and 28€/share respectively), Lefigaro reported today[FR] that Lagardère have now managed to acquire a controlling, majority stake in Leguide.com at 28€/share. The transaction values Leguide.com, which is […]
Why you shouldn't be too excited about Index's new €350M fund for early stage "European" startups
GigaOm Europe reported this morning that Index Ventures raised another round of €350 Million to invest into early stage European startups. This is pretty great news – Index, along with Accel, is one of the few real Global investment firms that has both a strong presence in the US and in Europe. In New York, Index […]
Orange expected to finalise buy-out of Dailymotion
Back in January 2011, Orange purchased 49% of Dailymotion for approximately €60million in a “two-part transaction”. As reported in Les Echos this week , Orange has now decided to go all in and buy the remaining 51% for €72million. They plan to involve a partner in the deal, potentially Qualcom, and expect to close the […]
Facebook Games: The success of casual and the Big French Three
In France, the more ambition a social game has, the smaller its audience seems to be. At least for the 3 biggest ones. France has 3 social game developers with an audience above 500K daily active users(DAU): Telaxo, Kobojo, and Ubisoft. In this list, world-renown Ubisoft is only 3rd (520k), while little-known Telaxo is 1st (1.2M), with […]
ISAI secures second fund for making €1-€5M investments
This morning, ISAI announced the closing of a €30M second fund dedicated to making investments in mature companies looking to grow quickly, make acquisitions, and provide a bit of liquidity to shareholders. ISAI first announced the searching of a second fund in the beginning of April, and it seems they had no trouble securing the […]
France Digitale: The French lobbying association for the startup Ecosystem
JournalduNet[FR] reported today that the lobbying association France Digitale has just been created in order to promote the startup/tech ecosystem. The association is presided over by venture capitalist Marie Ekeland, a partner at Elaia Partners, and Marc Menasé, President of Meinvest. The association will reportedly be made up of entrepreneurs and other investors, as well. The […]
The 411 on Uber in Paris
A few weeks ago I wrote an albeit satirical piece when I found out that a competitor to Uber had cropped up, namely Chauffeur Privé. My proposition at the time was that the best way to decide which service was best was to have a private chauffeur race. Well, I couldn’t quite convince my girlfriend […]