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Orange Digital Ventures invests in Android-based transaction device provider FAMOCO

Orange Digital Ventures is participating in a round of fund-raising of 11 million euros in the FAMOCO company alongside d’Idinvest, Hi Inov, SNCF Digital Ventures, BNP Paribas Développement, BPI-Ambition Numérique and business angels.

The funding follows two other rounds in 2013 and 2015 during which the start-up raised €1 million and €4.1 million, respectively.

The new round aims to allow FAMOCO to meet growing international demand for transaction solutions in the fields of payment, transport, smart city and the digital transformation in mobility of large groups.

The technology development company saw its growth accelerate quickly in 2016, led by its transaction security solution on a mobile device combining a secure Android-based handset and a mobile device fleet management platform. FAMOCO’s ambition is to double in size, with more than 50 recruits planned this year, and is preparing to open new offices in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the USA and Asia, in addition to India, where it currently operates.

After two and a half years of commercial development, Orange says that FAMOCO has become a key player in the digital transformation of transactions, with more than 100,000 FAMOCO devices deployed in more than 30 countries.

The start-up’s solution meets several of Orange’s strategic challenges, particularly for payment and enterprise services. In fact, Orange and the start-up are already working together in Africa on the Orange Money mobile money service, which already has 29 million users and represents a monthly transaction volume of more than €1 billion.

Orange has already participated in the development of FAMOCO via its Orange Fab accelerator. With this investment, Orange hopes to bring its expertise in emerging markets to FAMOCO and in the near future to lever off the Android device solution to help its enterprise customers around the world in their digitisation.

Pierre Louette, deputy CEO of Orange and chairman of Orange Digital Ventures commented: “The acquisition of this participating interest is a second logical step that reinforces our existing industrial partnership with FAMOCO, which is already helping us to deploy Orange Money in Africa. It shows our commitment to bringing innovative solutions to the digital transformation of our enterprise customers and to supporting the international development of FAMOCO.”

Lionel Baraban, co-founder and CEO of FAMOCO added: “Words like ‘Innovation Department’ and ‘Open Innovation’ are fashionable in large groups. They are sometimes marketing catch-phrases. With Orange, we have a real partner for whom innovation is not just ‘pilots or POCs’, it is large-scale deployment which has already changed the lives of millions of people in Africa. We are at the beginning of a new chapter and we are proud to have the support of Orange and Orange Digital Ventures.”

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