The French manufacturer Withings connected objects, one of the nuggets of French Tech, is about to go under the Finnish flag. The Nokia supplier, based in Helsinki, has just pledged to sign a check for 170 million euros for the acquisition, which is expected to close in September this year.
Born in 2008 based in Issy-Les-Moulineaux, where it has 200 employees, the start-up was successful late 2013 fundraiser 23.5 million from the IPO, of Idinvest Partners 360 Capital Partners and Ventech its historical financial shareholder. Among its famous users include Francois Hollande, bringing its shows connected, or the co-creator of Twitter Jack Dorsey, who fell for its balance.
The Ile start-up has indeed done known through its connected scale, which, in addition to weight, also provides information on the quality of the air, body mass index, or heart rate. For the volunteers, it is possible to follow the evolution of its weight over several weeks and even months … Withings has also launched a connected blood pressure monitor and a surveillance camera, called First Smart Baby Monitor, then Home . Set in a child’s room, it is ideal for parents to check their smartphone via their baby is sleeping and he is not sick. The sapling was, moreover, launched before Apple, in the highly competitive market of connected watches, with its model Activity, an analog watch that requires almost no recharge.
The market for connected health
More surprisingly, Withings has also been interested in our sleep by launching Aura, which, thanks to sensors placed under a mattress, is able playing on the intensity of the lamp to the bedside table, thus promoting harmonious awakening. Also in its catalog, Pulse Ox, a tracker of activity measurement, among others, the level of oxygen in the blood. And it is also this argument that the connected health, has advanced the Finnish Nokia to justify its purchase. Will he put up a platform to rival that of Apple
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Behind this acquisition is a landmark of the French Tech, decorated many times at CES in Las Vegas, which runs under the flag, certainly European, but even abroad. If rewards ingenuity of its founders, this acquisition also illustrates the difficulty that French startups to grow without being redeemed. Cédric Hutchings, one of Withings co-creators, became the leader in connected healthcare business of Nokia.
As for Eric Carreel, another co-creator, he remains an active entrepreneur in French Tech by growing Sculpteo and Invoxia, two startups he launched the first specialized in 3D printing – and just welcome Amazon to its capital, but with a minority stake – and the other in fixed telephony over IP. Not to mention his latest toy, Triby, a connected speaker that can make calls.
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