Venture capital : the French Riviera start-ups

They have a project, a team, are established on the Riviera and are looking for funds for an immediate take-off. Review of the thirteen companies the international show of Sophia had selected.

Among the forty start-ups duly selected by the venture capital meeting that took place last week at the Agora of Sophia Antipolis, thirteen were representing the French Riviera. An excellent selection that proves the vitality of the French Riviera in the new economy sector. Review of these start-ups ready to take-off, and that either already have serious references (for some of them, it was already the second demand), or a business plan sufficiently attractive to appeal to the jury./www.buying-partner.com"> Buying-partner.com:set up in January 2000 and established at the World Trade Centre of Sophia Antipolis, the 'market place' of general purchases dedicated to companies has created its website in April and already owns its second draft. What makes the difference : the practice of inverted auction sales, which allow the companies to find the supplier at the best price. The company has already succeeded to get a first fund raising of 1.6 million euros in October 2000. It is looking for a financial backing of 6 million euros (about 40 million francs).Contact : Andreas Woywode, andreas@buying-partner.com; tel : 04 92 38 80 57/www.cassiopay.com">CassioPay:Created by Jean-Luc Dupré at the beginning of 2000 and established at the Canneopole, the company is the 'first Internet space of social intelligence'. It is the first ASP platform (Applications Service Provider) dedicated to the sector of work regulation and social management of the company. Cassiopay, which intends to target first of all corporate accountants and then to extend to a direct offer to companies, expects to be the European reference platform of social management for small and medium sized companies of the union. It is looking for a financial backing of 25 million francs.Contact : Jean-Luc Dupré, jean-luc.dupre@cassiopay.com; tel : 04 92 18 69 90/www.castify.net">Castify Networks:all the power of Eurocom's research, the Institute of Sophia Antipolis specialized in the training of engineers in networks is gathered in this start-up. It already has six ' PhD Doctors ' who have done some of the best doctoral thesis these last years on the different network administration problems. Its 'products' are gathered under 'Castify Broadcast Network', softwares making the media diffusion on a large scale on Internet easier. They allow among others to get videos on Internet on a large screen (contrary to what we have at the moment on a small window). Potential customers are content delivery networks, ISP and network providers, subcontracting services, etc. A first fund raising has already been done. The second one it is looking for is up to 6 million dollars (45 million francs).Contact : Jamel Gafsi; gafsi@castify.net; tel : 04 92 94 20 87CTP :a biotech that owns three patents. It offers a range of products for cell lab functional research as well as a range of bioreactors for tissue generation. Set up in February 2000 with the contribution of the innovation workshop, the company has hold a first increase of capital of 6 million francs in value. Target : 8 million francs.Contact : Christophe Conway, convayc@celltissprog.com; tel 01 40 25 97 97/wwwdoublecard.com">Doublecard:The Smart Doublecard, with a standard credit card format, can be read in a CD or a DVD. It has a storage capacity of 100 Mo and comes now as the new worldwide credit card for payment online, and it is compatible with all computers (Mac, PC, laptop, desktop, etc.). The idea is to bring a solution to increase the security of transactions for e-business on a market which is B to B above all and that concerns companies as Yahoo!, AOL or e-business websites. Laurent Benedetti had invented the technology in 1997 and the company was set up in May 1999 with a of 50 000-dollar- capital. Target : 8 million dollars (60 million francs).Contact : Laurent Benedetti; lbenedetti@doublecard.com; tel : 04 93 53 76 76/www.etexx.com">Etexx:established at the Arenas in Nice in August 1999, this worldwide textile market place had already contributed to the last meeting and had raised 46 million francs then. With 80 employees, it has already developed its e-business offer. The aim is now to enforce its service offer and to get a significant market share. For its second demand, it is looking for a financial backing of 25 million euros (about 165 million francs), the highest amount of money of this meeting.Contact : Stanislas Berteloot (press contacts); s.berteloot@etexx.com; tel 04 92 29 72 72/www.europe-technologies.com">Europe Technologies S.A.:founded in 1996, a Texas Instrument spin-off which develops 'tools' for the microelectronic sector. E.T., settled in Sophia, has created a new concept with a plat-form which allows to test and to validate 'chips' for complex systems in a rapid, efficient and safe way. The company which will generate a turnover of $6 million in 2000 with 25 people, intends to take the most of this competitive advantage to be present of the growing market of complex chips for mobile telephony, embarked systems for the motor car industry, the audio and the video, multimedia applications and the access control. To achieve its ambition (an expansion in Europe, in Japan, and in the United-States, 200 people and a $100 million turnover), E.T. is seeking $10 million (75 million francs).Contact : Sghaier Noury; sghaier.noury@europe-technologies.com; tel : 04 93 00 43 08Laboratoire Kyrn :another company of the health pole on the French Riviera, it is specialized in dermatology. The Kyrn Laboratory, founded in Nice in 1997, researches and develops auto-medication products in a new allowed framework for this kind of products : the medical plan. A first product has already been successfully launched in April 2000 : 'Keotyl', which allows to cure home and school burns. The company is seeking 20 million francs.Contact : Christine Pietri (founder); lab.kyrn@wanadoo.fr; tel : 04 93 80 70 25m.Pixel: founded by Patrick Haddad, expert in the wavelet technology, this start-up from the Sophia's CICA aims at the market of pictures for the mobile Internet. Its advantage : a software technology of image processing and compression which is much more precise than the current JPEG standard as regard transmission speed, quality, adaptation to terminals, storage size or restitution flexibility (multi-resolution, progressive transmission for instance). The company, created in March 2000 with the help of the Atelier de l'innovation has already benefited by a 6 million francs contribution. It is looking for 30 million francs.Contact : Eric Laporte; eric.laporte@mpixel.com; tel : 01 40 25 97 66/www.quescom.com">Quescom.com:an Interphase Corporation's spin-off (Dallas); it was founded in 1999 and recently located on the Fench Riviera. Quescom works on the very promising market of the voice on IP and of the convergence Voice & Data. Its products are intend to new operators who are building service infrastructures around IP networks as well as to companies which want to integrate services linked to Internet in their telecommunication system. Quescom (CEO founder Philippe Oros) is seeking $20 million (150 million francs).Contact : Valérie Follet; follet@quescom.com; tel : 04 97 23 48 48Semiosigns: starting from a technology resulting from semeiotics (the science for signs perception modes), the company develops an application of behavioural profiling of web-surfers and of personalisation of sites which have been visited. The project has been launched in March 2000 by Xavier Canal. The first round-table (1 million francs) in October 2000. The company is now looking for 4 million francs./www.vistaprint.com">Vistaprint.com:the printing works on the web. Customers conceive and personalize business cards, invitation cards, postcards, letter papers and soon leaflets on their computer, and then they just have to send the files and to order the number of printings wanted. A company founded in France in 1995, it settled in Boston in 1999 but it has opened an office in Sophia in September 2000. The company is seeking from $10 to $12 million in order to become the world leader for full-colour limited prinrings.Contact : Lisa Lueg; lisal@vistaprint.com; Tel : 04 97 21 26 26/www.wwwhoosh.com">Wwwhoosh Europe:another company located in both United-States and Europe via Sophia Antipolis, it developed a Web booster system which brings solutions to problems of bandwidth. The software system is sold to ISP (Internet Service Provider) and content providers. The users can load plugs-in in their browsers freely. Wwwhoosh Europe, a branch of Wwwhoosh Inc, should deliver its first products in December 2000. The company is looking for $10 to $12 million.Contact : Corinne Desmaisons; cdesmaisons@wwwhoosh.fr; tel : 04 93 00 43 20.