All posts in innovation
Here’s how edited tweets may look when embedded elsewhere
Though Twitter hasn’t officially launched its anticipated edit tweet feature, it has generated a lot of questions on how it’ll look when embedded on other sites. Some of the questions include, will it dynamically change if edited on Twitter, or will it remain as it was when created? And is Twitter releasing something radical alongside […]
How Smart Textiles sense their user’s movement
With a novel fabrication procedure, MIT researchers have designed smart textiles, which conform to the body so they could sense the wearer’s motions and posture. The researchers used the process of thermoforming. By adding a unique kind of plastic yarn and incorporating heat to slightly melt it, the researchers greatly increase the precision of pressure […]
The emergence of AI in security and surveillance
Artificial Intelligence (AI) slowly permeates every sector of our modern society, pushing the boundaries of intelligence and securing paradigm-shifting discoveries, mostly due to the prevalent backdrop of self-learning capabilities that have emerged in recent climes. Over the decades, institutions and governments have invested heavily in security and surveillance infrastructures. However, with the advent of AI-driven […]
10 Misconceptions about French support for startups
There are several schemes to help startups in the complicated launching phase. The Research tax credits (CIR) scheme celebrates its 35th anniversary this year and has proved to be one of the main drivers for innovation in France: over 20,000 companies presently benefit from it. However, many misconceptions still persist about this support facility, as […]
Is France prepared to make the sacrifices necessary to foster the innovation ecosystem it claims to want?
Open Innovation, the Year of Innovation, Young Innovative Enterprises, etc. we cannot stop talking about innovation. But we also should acknowledge that innovation comes with certain demands. For example, innovation requires flexibility. For companies to be innovative, they must be agile. Lack of agility is one of the reasons large established firms are caught flat-footed […]
Here’s some new Tax Credits just for French startups
The 2013 French Finance law, voted last December, has been a hot topic in the startup community because of a controversial capital gains tax hike proposal. The directions for the new law were set in the National Pact for Growth, a set of measures aimed at helping SMEs grow by fostering innovation, among other things. Apart […]
Rude VC: Pour une France Compétitive
Over the weekend I had the pleasure of perusing France Digitale’s whitepaper “Pour une France compétitive et créatrice d’emplois.” I say pleasure, because I really did enjoy reading the organization’s pragmatic proposal of four concrete measures to include in the upcoming Loi des Finances 2013. For those who are not familiar, France Digitale is a […]
I hope you weren't planning on getting grants from OSEO this year
[Update: some of the details in the article were originally inaccurate, and have been modified accordingly.] While VC money is not always the most reliable way for startups to fund themselves in early stages, one of France’s unique selling points for startups is the subventions or “grants” that the government will give to startups to do […]
Hadopi: What SOPA looks like from the Eiffel Tower
Last week, the US looked a lot more like France than it usually does, thanks to the uproar caused by SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act). I probably don’t need to remind anyone reading this that the internet was flooded with the protesting voices of companies like Wikipedia, Google, Reddit and more against the would-be anti-piracy law. […]
A mini wave of French acquisitions?
A while ago, I published an article titled “I’m sorry, did you think French companies don’t acquire?” Despite the fact that France lacks a company with an aggressive acquisition strategy comparable to that of Google, there ARE companies that acquire. At the time, my list was oriented towards larger companies – like Ubisoft, France Telecom […]