Wimba gets the "innovating company" label from the ANVAR

The start-up from Sophia Antipolis, the world leader of voice applications on the Web, will also receive a aid of 360.000 euros from the French national agency for the valuation of research.

A good news for Wimba: the start-up from Sophia Antipolis which comes from the Eurécom Institute has received the "innovating company" label from the ANVAR (Agence Nationale de Valorisation de la Recherche), a label granted with a financial aid of 360.000 euros (2.36 million francs). Created in October 1999, the Wimba company designs and provides vocal applications on the Web (see the article "Wimba : la voix du Web"). Such applications are asynchronous (as e-mails) and interactive and they don't require any software or plug-in setting up.Managing pre-recorded vocal messagesThis innovating and patented technology allows web users, who are equipped with a microphone and speakers, to listen, to send, to stock and to manage some pre-recorded vocal messages very easily and efficiently. The company, which now counts fifteen employees, has chosen an economic model based on the sell of technologic licenses to use in a company hosting mode or in a complete solution mode at the customer's. Today, Wimba is one of the world leaders on this growing market.Thus, this label awarded by the ANVAR, last August 28th, is an important step for the start-up headed by Tommaso Trionfi. The ANVAR, a reference in the world of high technologies, thus acknowledges the innovating characteristic of Wimba's technologic projects. The company confirms the technical quality of its offer, the coherence and relevance of the Business Plan as well as the growing and job creation potential.Vocal services which link Web and telephonyAt the moment, Wimba works on the development of new solutions linking its technologies to telegraphic and mobile telephones. They want to provide unified accesses (Web and telephony) to vocal services, such as for instance the possibility to send and receive a vocal e-mail from one's mobile phone.What about the strategy ? According to Wimba, the products which combine Web and telephony result from new needs from final users. So, the stake is to be able to address every kind of markets (first, e-learning, then communication of companies, e-business…) thanks to products which satisfy specific needs of each market. Moreover, by positioning on the telephony niche, Wimba intends to access the global market of telecommunications. This allows the company to plan every kind of future developments as far as mobility is concerned, particularly with the mobile telephony and Digital Personal Assistants.The "Voice Management SystemAt the moment, Wimba offers the "Voice Management Solution" that is declining in several application modules which can be combined:- "Voice E-Mail": a vocal e-mail (with a Web and telephonic access)- "Voice Message Board": an architecture of arborescent vocal forums (with a Web and telephonic access)- "Voice Presentation": vocal presentations that illustrate and back up some text supports- "Voice Enabling": small Java applets that add a vocal content to a Website or to an existing Web application with Web programming in dynamic HTML.- "Language Tools": a pronunciation comparison tool and a comprehension tool