New president, recapitalization, search engine of the administration… a wind of change blows on Qwant

[ad_1]

The French start-up Qwant, which has been developing an alternative search engine to Google since 2013, is turning a page in its history. In a press release published on January 9, 2020, Qwant announced the departure of Eric Leandri, its historic president, from the company's executive management as of January 15, 2020. But he did not leave the ship entirely. He will head an advisory committee to define the major "scientific and technological directions"of the company.

It is Jean-Claude Ghinozzi, commercial director of Qwant since 2017, who will take the position of president of the company. As for Tristan Nitot, recently appointed managing director in September 2019 and interviewed by The Digital Factory on this occasion, he will resume his previous position as vice-president responsible for public affairs.

New fundraising of 10 million euros

In addition, the search engine obtained a recapitalization from Caisse des Dépôts and its other shareholder, the German press group Alex Springer. "The main shareholders (…) have decided to renew their trust and have committed to participate in a new round which will be finalized in February", merely indicates the press release. But, according Release, this would be a new fundraising of nearly 10 million euros.

The objective is to get the company out of the red with its 11.2 million euros loss in 2018 after 10 million in 2017 and 4.7 million in 2016. "We are going to the monetization stage. It is vital for our company to be able to finance itself, while remaining in line with our values, with no-tracking", said Jean-Claude Ghinozzi to Capital.

Questioned by Le Figaro, Antoine Troesch said that Caisse des Dépôts has decided to re-invest in Qwant because the search engine has now entered "in a very positive development phase". He added that the French financial institution wanted to support Qwant as"element of national sovereignty".

Would these changes not resemble a takeover of the main shareholders of Qwant following a series of controversies? In recent months, the company has undergone many criticisms, including the advancement of its technologies and its financial health. In September 2019, the Caisse des Dépôts and the German group hinted that they wanted a new presidency.

Qwant becomes the administration's search engine

These upheavals within Qwant are accompanied by a new boost from the French government. According to a note sent on January 7, 2020 to the Interministerial Directorate of Digital that Release procured, the French company will become the default search engine of the administration. Concretely, it will replace Google on millions of posts, unless the user decides to change the settings. This changeover should take place by April 30, 2020.

This measure was announced in May 2019 by Cédric O, the Secretary of State for Digital. After several audits carried out between July and September, the government concluded that Qwant met the criteria it had set for privacy and the protection of personal data.

[ad_2]