Orange Digital Ventures partners with Google in start-up financing

Through this partnership, Google will leverage ODV’s sourcing of start-ups to explore opportunities for co-investments in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The ODV team and Google will jointly evaluate promising investment opportunities with start-ups in the fields of new connectivities, IoT, cybersecurity, cloud, AI, fintech, as well as new business models in the Middle East and Africa.

This cooperation around financing will be extended by regular coordination meetings between the management teams of the two groups in order to examine investment opportunities around these start-ups and to accelerate the dynamics of open innovation at Orange.

“We are very proud to announce this partnership which will enable start-ups supported by Orange Digital Ventures to explore potential co-investment opportunities with Google. Through this partnership, we stand to reinforce Orange Digital Ventures’ ”Smart Money“ value-proposition by offering entrepreneurs with whom we work much more than just financing,” said Stéphane Richard, Chairman and CEO of Orange.

“We are delighted to support Orange’s ecosystem of start-ups and innovation and to explore alongside them opportunities for co-investment in Europe, Africa and the Middle East (EMEA). Orange’s ecosystem is consistent with Google’s know-how and our ability to accelerate the growth of start-ups. This partnership is a way to enhance our collective contribution to innovation in this region,” said Carlo d’Asaro Biondo, EMEA President of Google Partnerships.

About Orange
Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with sales of 41 billion euros in 2017 and 150,000 employees worldwide at 31 March 2018, including 91,000 employees in France. The Group has a total customer base of 263 million customers worldwide at 31 March 2018, including 202 million mobile customers and 20 million fixed broadband customers. The Group is present in 28 countries. Orange is also a leading provider of global IT and telecommunication services to multinational companies, under the brand Orange Business Services. In March 2015, the Group presented its new strategic plan “Essentials2020” which places customer experience at the heart of its strategy with the aim of allowing them to benefit fully from the digital universe and the power of its new generation networks.

Orange is listed on Euronext Paris (symbol ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN).

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