If Sud Capital Gestion, in Marseille, wasn't much present in the financing of start-ups of Sophia, however, this company of venture capital has just invested about ten million francs in CLL Pharma, a company from Nice specialised in the creation of generic drugs. Set up in 1995 by Claude Laruelle, former researcher of the human medicine departments of Virbac and Arkopharma, CLL Pharma (about thirty people) was seeking funds for its development and grouping on Sophia Antipolis. The company plans a listing on the stock exchange for next autumn.

To apply the top level sport practices at the service of the management: this is the aim of the next Thursday of the CICA which will take place on April 19th at 9.00 AM on the theme "The coaching or the mental state of champions for the success of our challenges". Two parts are dedicated for this monthly meeting.

To make the Web accessible to handicapped people, that is one of the aims of the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) in Sophia Antipolis. The Handiweb company is gone even more further. With Handiweb.fr, they have realized the first portal website designed by handicapped people.

La start-up sophipolitaine, spécialisée dans la restauration numérique de films, a présenté à Los Angeles deux films mythiques américains qu'elle a fait revivre.

”Promenade des Anglais, I buy for 400 euros. Place Massena, I mortgage for 300 euros !”. For one year, as La Tribune notices, the Monopoly is adapted to big cities. Bordeaux, Toulouse, Lille, Nantes and the Alsace region have already been “localised”. But the Monopoly of Nice has one supplementary innovation.

Wanadoo bought out to Christophe Dupont, one of the three founders of the start-up of Sophia, 33% of the capital they needed. This puts an end to the two years of judicial guerrilla war.

Le magazine a remis ses "Trophées de la nouvelle économie". Trente start-up ont été sélectionnées tandis que les quatre prix revenaient à Right Vision, Opt(e)way, Quescom et le Ceram.

Ancien élève du Ceram, le Cannois Fred Hessabi, a connu en quelque sorte deux succès coup sur coup. Il est à l'origine du premier congrès des utilisateurs de Siebel qui a lieu à Cannes en fin de semaine et il vient d'être nommé Vice-Président et General Manager pour la région EMEA (Europe Middle East & Africa) de Siebel Systems.Agé de 39 ans, diplômé du Ceram et titulaire du MBA de Concordia au Canada, Fred Hessabi a démarré sa carrière comme ingénieur commercial chez CCMC.

Rendre le Web accessible aux handicapés, c'est un des crédos du W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) à Sophia Antipolis. La SARL Handiweb est allée encore un peu plus loin. Avec Handiweb.fr, elle a réalisé le premier site portail web conçu par des personnes handicapées pour des personnes handicapées.

The resumption of commercial courts of Alpes-Maritimes which were on strike since last February. Between the beginning and the end of last week, all of the consular jurisdictions have resumed their activities expect in Menton where the nine consular judges have dismissed on December 31st 2000 (for Menton, the Nice county court ensures hearings). A resumption which was expected among others by companies in difficulty among which many start-ups from Sophia Antipolis.

The ETSI (European Institute for telecommunication standardization) at Sophia Antipolis has appointed a new assistant general manager during its bi-annual general meeting of last April 5th and 6th. Jorgen Friis will then replace, from August 2001 Bridget Cosgrave who had been in function for five years. Jorgen Friis, who is expected at Sophia from May for handing on the baton, has more than ten years of experience in telecommunications. He knows more particularly the technical side of this industry but he also worked in the management.

Caramail and TF1 remain the leaders of the audience on the Internet, each in its category. The study of Cybermétrie for March didn't change the classification. Champion in all categories in France, Caramail reached 48.4 million visits (47.1 million last March). The others are far behind: Francité with 23.8 million, Boursorama with 20.09 million, Club Internet with 14.3 million, and PagesJaunes with 11.4 million.

If at the end of the exceptional works council, Marc Rochet, CEO, didn't announce any figure, the unions expect between 1000 and 1500 the number of lay-offs planned.

Dans Lefigaro.com, un dossier sur /www.lefigaro.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+FTContentServer?pagename=FutureTense/Apps/Xcelerate/View&c=figArticle&cid=FIGIY61M5LC&live=true&Site=true&gCurChannel=ZZZXG1K648C&gCurRubrique=&gCurSubRubrique=">Les nouveaux enjeux de l'épargne salarialesuite à la mise en œuvre de la loi Fabius. L'épargne salariale, qui regroupe la participation, l'intéressement ainsi que l'abondement, est d'abord utilisée par les entreprises pour le développement d'une politique de rémunération globale.

On January 1st 2002, companies and concerns of less than 20 employees will have to implement the new legal working length. To be prepared for this date, Gérard-Louis Bosio, the president of the UDECA (Union des Entreprises de la Côte d'Azur; union of companies from the Riviera) and Francis Pérugini, the president of the CCI NCA are organizing an information meeting on the theme of implementation of the 35 hours law for companies of less than 20 employees. This meeting will take place on Thursday April 12th, from 8.30 to 10.30 am in the business center of Nice airport, Terminal 1.

/interactif.lemonde.fr/article/0,5611,2865--170476-0,FF.html">'Des petits projets qui gagnent sur le Net': ça existe. Alors qu'aux Etats-Unis les dotcoms débauchent à tour de bras et que l'Europe semble touchée par le ressac de la Netéconomie, un article dans Le Monde(article fait en collaboration avec BusinessWeek) peut redonner le moral aux entrepreneurs du Net où à ceux qui souhaitent le devenir.

/interactif.lemonde.fr/article/0,5611,2865--170476-0,FF.html">'Des petits projets qui gagnent sur le Net': it exists. Whereas in the United-States dotcoms are starting many layoffs and Europe seems touched by the Net-economy backwash, an article in Le Monde(article made in collaboration with BusinessWeek) can raise the Net-entrepreneurs' spirits as well as those who wants to become one of them.

The 'Marks' in Nice demonstrated on Friday on the avenue Jean Médecin, in front of their establishment, as the employees of the 17 other French stores owned by the British group. The anger follows the shock, after the decision taken by the management to close on December 31st 2001 the overall of stores out of Great Britain and Ireland. This decision is considered as 'sudden and delinquent' and they are really decided to fight against it.

L'ETSI (Institut Européen de standardisation des télécommunications) à Sophia Antipolis, a nommé un nouveau directeur général adjoint lors de son assemblée générale bi-annuelle des 5 et 6 avril dernier. Jorgen Friis remplacera ainsi, à partir du mois d'août 2001, Bridget Cosgrave qui occupait ces fonctions depuis cinq ans. Jorgen Friis, qui est attendu à Sophia à partir de mai pour le passage de témoin, a plus de dix ans d'expérience dans les télécommunications. Il connaît plus particulièrement le côté technique de cette industrie mais a travaillé également dans la partie management.

Au 1er janvier 2002, les entreprises et commerces de moins de 20 salariés devront mettre en application la nouvelle durée légale du travail. Pour préparer cette échéance, Gérard-Louis Bosio, président de l'UDECA (Union des Entreprises de la Côte d'Azur) et Francis Pérugini, président de la CCI NCA organisent une réunion d'information sur l'application des 35 heures aux entreprises de moins de 20 salariés. Cette réunion aura lieu jeudi 12 avril, de 8h30 à 10h30 au centre d'affaires de l'aéroport de Nice, Terminal 1.