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French Tech News with Chris O'Brien and Ethan Pierse

French Tech News with Chris O'Brien and Ethan Pierse

By Chris O'Brien and Ethan Pierse

An audio and video podcast series, in English, highlighting important stories in the world of France’s startups, its entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem leaders, with Chris O'Brien and Ethan Pierse.
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Building the Future of Work with Startup Studio eFounders

French Tech News with Chris O'Brien and Ethan PierseMar 16, 2022

00:00
36:59
Small Business Payments and Financial Management with Qonto

Small Business Payments and Financial Management with Qonto

Chris and Ethan had a chance to catch up with Alexandre Prot, Co-Founder and CEO of Qonto, on their amazing growth and what's ahead. 

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The French Tech News is a newsletter, podcast, and video media highlighting important stories, in English, in the world of France’s startups, its entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem leaders. Hosted by Chris O'Brien and Ethan Pierse.

Sign up for the newsletter: https://frenchtechjournal.com/signup/

Jul 11, 202234:48
People and Product-Driven Investment with Pascal Cagni's C4 Ventures

People and Product-Driven Investment with Pascal Cagni's C4 Ventures

Join us for a passionate discussion with Pascal Cagni, Founding Partner at C4 Ventures and Chairman at Business France, previously GM & VP, Apple EMEIA, and GM Europe, Packard Bell.

  1. Intro and background 0:28
  2. Pascal's journey at Apple 4:50
  3. C4 Ventures' focus and interests 7:12
  4. C4's investment themes and thesis 12:35
  5. France is back and French Tech's growth 15:02
  6. From French Tech startups to European scaleups 22:36
  7. Government's role in driving tech growth and addressing new verticals 28:49

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The French Tech News is a newsletter, podcast, and video media highlighting important stories, in English, in the world of France’s startups, its entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem leaders. Hosted by Chris O'Brien and Ethan Pierse.

Sign up for the newsletter: https://frenchtechjournal.com/signup/

Apr 20, 202238:15
Ynsect Vertical Insect Farm Visit

Ynsect Vertical Insect Farm Visit

The French Tech News visited Ynsect's mealworm farm in Dole, France, and spent some time with CEO Antoine Hubert learning more about Ynsect's journey, their mission, their science, and where they go from here. 


1. Intro and acquisition of US mealworm factory, Jord Producers: 00:48 

2. Vertical insect farm factory description: 1:57

3. Behind the Engineering, Data, and Biology of farming insects (mealworm beetles, Tenebrio molitor) 3:37

4. Inventing the intellectual property of insect farming 5:20

5. What's next and the the challenges ahead: regulation for US and EU animal and human consumption of insect protein, human and financial capital 7:33


Video version available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCxLH7t51lw

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The French Tech News is a newsletter, podcast, and video media highlighting important stories, in English, in the world of France’s startups, its entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem leaders. Hosted by Chris O'Brien and Ethan Pierse. 

Sign up for the newsletter: https://frenchtechjournal.com/signup/

Apr 08, 202209:48
Effective Company Carbon Programs with Sweep

Effective Company Carbon Programs with Sweep

Discussing reducing carbon emissions in your business and value chain with CEO and Co-Founder of Sweep, Rachel Delacour.

  1. Description and history of Sweep: 1:49
  2. Climate change startup investment landscape 3:52
  3. Doing good can also be good business 5:14
  4. Sweep's $5m seed fundraising 6:47
  5. Optimism and the COP26 Experience 7:14
  6. Will technology save the planet? 11:47
  7. Founding BIME Analytics and the Zendesk acquisition 16:04
  8. Build your passion 20:55
  9. On to angel investing 23:15
  10. Heading to space? 24:47

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The French Tech News is a newsletter, podcast, and video media highlighting important stories, in English, in the world of France’s startups, its entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem leaders. Hosted by Chris O'Brien and Ethan Pierse.

Sign up for the newsletter: https://frenchtechjournal.com/signup/

Apr 06, 202229:10
Building the Future of Work with Startup Studio eFounders
Mar 16, 202236:59
Growing Life Anywhere and Everywhere with Interstellar Lab

Growing Life Anywhere and Everywhere with Interstellar Lab

Barbara Belvisi, Founder and CEO of Interstellar Lab, shares their mission to create sustainable plant cultivation both in space and here on Earth.


Be sure to subscribe to and share the podcast on your preferred podcast platform and check out the video version on our YouTube channel.

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The French Tech News is a newsletter, podcast, and video media highlighting important stories, in English, in the world of France’s startups, its entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem leaders. Hosted by Chris O'Brien and Ethan Pierse.

Be sure to sign up for the French Tech Journal newsletter for more stories and announcements.

Mar 10, 202231:38
Seyna, The All-In-One Platform for Insurance Brokers
Feb 24, 202238:23
Innovating Music Streaming with Deezer
Feb 16, 202229:44
Relationship-based Customer Communication at Scale with Front
Feb 10, 202231:08
Elevating Sound in Our Lives with Devialet
Feb 01, 202232:54
Shaping The Future Of Music with Believe
Jan 25, 202233:10
Interview: Benoist Grossmann (Eurazeo) at France Digitale Day
Oct 01, 202117:15
Interview: Yann Lechelle (Scaleway) at France Digitale Day
Sep 29, 202115:54
Interview: Audrey Soussan (Ventech Capital) at France Digitale Day
Sep 27, 202115:09
Interview: Fleur Pellerin (Korelya Capital) at France Digitale Day
Sep 23, 202114:10
Transforming Insects into Premium Natural Feed with Ynsect
Aug 04, 202144:04
Interview: Thomas Courtois (Nickel) at Vivatech

Interview: Thomas Courtois (Nickel) at Vivatech

Our interview with Thomas Courtois, President of Nickel, at Vivatechnology in Paris.

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Be sure to subscribe to and share the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, and check out the video version on our YouTube channel.

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The French Tech News is a newsletter, podcast, and video media highlighting important stories, in English, in the world of France’s startups, its entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem leaders. Hosted by Chris O'Brien and Ethan Pierse.

Be sure to sign up for the French Tech Journal newsletter for more stories and announcements.

Jun 21, 202117:44
Building the Global IoT Network and Community with Jeremy Prince, CEO Sigfox
Jun 15, 202139:47
Ledger Unicorns; Pasqal and C12 Quantum Computing Funding; Tunecore's Believe IPOs on Euronext; Vivatech Paris is Next Week

Ledger Unicorns; Pasqal and C12 Quantum Computing Funding; Tunecore's Believe IPOs on Euronext; Vivatech Paris is Next Week

On today’s live podcast on Clubhouse, we'll cover great stories about:

1:02 Ledger, the leading manufacturer of cryptocurrency cold storage hardware wallets, raises a $380M Series C at a $1.5B unicorn valuation, making them France's 15th unicorn and 5th so far in 2021,

11:45 Pasqal quantum computing raises €25M Series A from France's Defense Innovation Fund for their programmable atomic arrays,

18:50 C12 Quantum Electronics raises $10M from Bpifrance, Airbus Ventures, BNP Paribas, and OVH's Octave Klaba,

22:30 Digital music management agency Believe, parent company of Tunecore, IPO'd on Euronext Paris,

31:38 Vivatechnology Paris physical and digital hybrid innovation conference is June 16-19, 2021. We'll be recording French Tech News interviews in the podcast studio and moderating a few panels. Come say hi!


Be sure to subscribe to and share the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, and check out the video version on our YouTube channel.

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The French Tech News is a newsletter, podcast, and video media highlighting important stories, in English, in the world of France’s startups, its entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem leaders. Hosted by Chris O'Brien and Ethan Pierse.

Be sure to sign up for the French Tech Journal newsletter for more stories and announcements.

Jun 11, 202134:21
On The Road To Becoming The Intercity Transportation Super-App With BlaBlaCar

On The Road To Becoming The Intercity Transportation Super-App With BlaBlaCar

Today our guest is Nicolas Brusson, Co-Founder and CEO at BlaBlaCar, the world’s leading intercity ridesharing service. We’ll be discussing carpooling in the pandemic / post-pandemic world, lessons in international growth especially of BlaBlaCar’s bus service in markets like Mexico, India, Russia, and Brazil, the road to becoming the intercity transportation super app, and building a culture of entrepreneurship and legacy through the BlaBlaCar mafia.

  • 1:08 Effect of the pandemic on transport and travel. The economic power of collective intelligence.
  • 6:57 Trust broker building community and maximizing connections between passengers and drivers.
  • 10:05 Intercity transport. Connecting bus carriers to the platform. Scaling across Russia, Eastern Europe, Mexico, India, and Brazil.
  • 15:11 Ridesharing competitors in bus and carpooling. Becoming the Expedia or Booking.com of buses.
  • 20:06 Going international: the transformation of BlaBlaCar as it expands to 22 countries. 80% of usage is now outside of France…60% is outside of Europe. On the road to profitability and an IPO?
  • 25:12 Lessons in growth. Offline-to-online transformation of transportation infrastructure.
  • 30:37 Intercity transportation super-app.
  • 33:50 BlaBlaCar in the US?
  • 37:50 The BlaBlaCar mafia and building a culture of entrepreneurship. When you leave, do something great, build a legacy…

Be sure to subscribe to and share the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, and check out the video version on our YouTube channel.

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The French Tech News is a newsletter, podcast, and video media highlighting important stories, in English, in the world of France’s startups, its entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem leaders. Hosted by Chris O'Brien and Ethan Pierse.

Be sure to sign up for the French Tech Journal newsletter for more stories and announcements.

May 24, 202144:34
Cloud-based Call Center and Phone Systems with Aircall

Cloud-based Call Center and Phone Systems with Aircall

On today’s live podcast on Clubhouse, we have the pleasure to chat with the founders of Aircall on the journey of building the cloud-based call center and phone system of choice for modern businesses.

Be sure to subscribe to and share the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, and check out the video version on our YouTube channel.

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The French Tech News is a newsletter, podcast, and video media highlighting important stories, in English, in the world of France’s startups, its entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem leaders. Hosted by Chris O'Brien and Ethan Pierse.

Be sure to sign up for the French Tech Journal newsletter for more stories and announcements.

May 12, 202142:33
Back Market: The Leading Marketplace Dedicated To Refurbished Devices
Mar 26, 202159:40
Anti-Cancer Startup Resilience Co-Founder Jonathan Benhamou; CEO Adrien Fernandez Baca from Cubyn On-Demand E-commerce Logistics; Jungle Vertical Farming Raises €42M; Literacy EdTech Lalilo Acquired
Mar 23, 202152:03
e.Ventures and Kili Technology on France’s Data Science Startups; Anti-Cancer Startup Resilience; Cubyn e-Commerce Logistics Raises €35M; Split-Payments Platform Pledg Raises €80M

e.Ventures and Kili Technology on France’s Data Science Startups; Anti-Cancer Startup Resilience; Cubyn e-Commerce Logistics Raises €35M; Split-Payments Platform Pledg Raises €80M

Mar 19, 202157:41
French Tech Miami with Hugging Face, SimpliField, and Ynsect

French Tech Miami with Hugging Face, SimpliField, and Ynsect

On today’s live podcast on Clubhouse, we will be chatting with French Tech entrepreneurs in New York and Miami on the growing trend of startups to locate their businesses and teams in up and coming ecosystems like Miami and related topics around quality of life, access to venture capital, local talent pools, engaged local politicians and organizations, and other subjects…

Joining us for our discussion will be 

  • Clement Delangue, CEO and Co-Founder of natural language processing starting Hugging Face, fresh off of their recent $40M Series B fundraising,
  • Benjamin Zenou, CEO and Co-Founder of retail performance platform SimpliField,
  • Alain Revah, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer for Ynsect, the world leader in insect protein and fertilizer production,
  • Caroline Faucher-Winter, Operating Partner at C4 Ventures as well as leading French Tech New York City,
  • and Stan Coignard, CEO of online to brick and mortar marketing platform S4M as well as leading French Tech Miami.

Check out our upcoming Clubhouse rooms and links at FrenchTechNews.club and join the French Tech News Club on Clubhouse.

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Welcome to French Tech News with Chris O’Brien and Ethan Pierse, an English-language podcast and Clubhouse series highlighting important stories in the world of France’s startups, its entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem leaders.

Please join us on Monday and Thursday evenings (Paris-time) on Clubhouse and regularly during the week as we publish those events and other exclusive interviews to this podcast.

Be sure to sign up for the French Tech Journal newsletter for more stories and announcements.

Mar 16, 202101:03:01
Gender Diversity in the French Startup and VC Ecosystem with SISTA

Gender Diversity in the French Startup and VC Ecosystem with SISTA

On today's live clubhouse podcast, join us for a conversation with SISTA, an association founded 2 years ago to address the imbalance between male and female entrepreneurs in France. Sista's recent barometer report highlighted many of these inequalities. We'll discuss that report and see what lessons Sista has for other ecosystems.

You can learn more about SISTA and download their most recent report in partnership with BCG on gender diversity in startups and fundraising in France.


Check out our upcoming Clubhouse rooms and links at FrenchTechNews.club and join the French Tech News Club on Clubhouse.

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Welcome to French Tech News with Chris O’Brien and Ethan Pierse, an English-language podcast and Clubhouse series highlighting important stories in the world of France’s startups, its entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem leaders.

Please join us on Monday and Thursday evenings (Paris-time) on Clubhouse and regularly during the week as we publish those events and other exclusive interviews to this podcast.

Be sure to sign up for the French Tech Journal newsletter for more stories and announcements.

Mar 12, 202152:53
Vestiaire Collective and Kering on their $215M Unicorn Fundraising

Vestiaire Collective and Kering on their $215M Unicorn Fundraising

On today’s live podcast on Clubhouse, we will chat with Clara Chappaz from Vestiaire Collective as well as Grégory Boutté from Kering on Vestiaire’s recent $215 million dollar Series H fundraising announcement making them France’s 11th unicorn and the world's go-to second-hand fashion platform.

Check out our upcoming Clubhouse rooms and links at FrenchTechNews.club

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Welcome to French Tech News with Chris O’Brien and Ethan Pierse, an English-language podcast and Clubhouse series highlighting important stories in the world of France’s startups, its entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem leaders.

Please join us on Monday and Thursday evenings (Paris-time) on Clubhouse and regularly during the week as we publish those events and other exclusive interviews to this podcast.

Be sure to sign up for the French Tech Journal newsletter for more stories and announcements.

Mar 09, 202155:19
Sorare Raises $50m For Its NFT/Blockchain-powered Fantasy Football Platform
Mar 08, 202130:11
David Bitton on Serena Capital’s €300m Fund III and the Operating Partner model; Sorare raises $50m; Xavier Niel funds Hectar agriculture school
Mar 05, 202144:00
Marc Menasé's Venture Studio Founders Future Raises $50m and Skeepers Acquires Sarah-Diane Eck's Surprise App

Marc Menasé's Venture Studio Founders Future Raises $50m and Skeepers Acquires Sarah-Diane Eck's Surprise App

Mar 01, 202146:38
French Tech News Trailer
Feb 28, 202100:52
France's Cybersecurity Strategy with Secretary of State for Digital Affairs, Cédric O

France's Cybersecurity Strategy with Secretary of State for Digital Affairs, Cédric O

Today, we have a Clubhouse conversation with France's Secretary of State for Digital Affairs, Cédric O, discussing the new national cybersecurity strategy for France. Announced last Thursday, February 17th, by President Macron, this strategy allocates over €1.3 billion of public and private capital to develop and reinforce new cybersecurity solutions for the government as well as businesses and individuals, educate and train new cybersecurity professionals, create 20,000 new jobs in the sector, as well as help scale France's cybersecurity startups, scaleups, and intellectual property.

Discussion:

  • Minister O's Introduction
  • €1.3B National Cybersecurity Strategy
  • Digital Transformation, Cybersecurity, and French Healthcare System
  • Budget Breakdown
  • Cybersecurity Education and Workforce
  • Startups, Scaleups, Unicorns, Decacorns
  • Research and Development
  • Cyber Campus at La Défense

Questions:

  • Capital deployment in healthcare system
  • Sovereign vs global partner participation
  • Cyber campus goals...international visibility vs building the sovereign cybersecurity ecosystem
  • Defensive vs offensive cybersecurity initiatives
  • Digital culture as part of a cybersecurity strategy (QAnon and other digital disinformation campaigns)
  • French cybersecurity startup acquisitions
  • European cybersecurity agenda

Be sure to subscribe to and share the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, and check out the video version on our YouTube channel.

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The French Tech News is a newsletter, podcast, and video media highlighting important stories, in English, in the world of France’s startups, its entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem leaders. Hosted by Chris O'Brien and Ethan Pierse.

Be sure to sign up for the French Tech Journal newsletter for more stories and announcements.

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This conversation was recorded on Clubhouse in compliance with Clubhouse's Terms of Service as all speakers provided permission to record and publish this content.

Feb 25, 202149:36
France Digitale, Apple, and the Coalition for App Fairness

France Digitale, Apple, and the Coalition for App Fairness

Today, we have a fantastic Clubhouse conversation with Nicolas Brien, CEO of French startup organization France Digitale, as well as President of the European Startup Network, whose combined mission is to foster the growth of future European digital champions. He is joined by Paul Christophle, investor at Korelya Capital. We'll be discussing France Digitale joining the Coalition for App Fairness as it defends European startups against the Apple app store commission structure.

Check out our upcoming Clubhouse rooms and links at FrenchTechNews.club

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Welcome to French Tech News with Chris O’Brien and Ethan Pierse, a podcast and Clubhouse series highlighting important stories in the world of France’s startups, its entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem leaders.

Please join us on Monday and Thursday evenings (Paris-time) on Clubhouse and regularly during the week as we publish those events and other exclusive interviews to this podcast.

Be sure to sign up for the French Tech Journal newsletter.

---

This conversation was recorded on Clubhouse in compliance with Clubhouse’s Terms of Service as all speakers provided permission to record and publish this content.

Feb 23, 202150:32
Lydia, The Financial Services Super-App, with CEO Co-Founder Cyril Chiche
Feb 22, 202151:03