faberNovel acquires Applidium, makers of VLC for iPad/iPhone

Jan. 26, 2011 - PRLog -- faberNovel, an innovation agency based in Paris, San Francisco, Moscow and Ho Chi Minh has acquired Applidium, makers of the VLC Media Player, one of the most popular free iPhone and iPad apps of 2010.  Renamed "Applidium by faberNovel," the new subsidiary will take on all mobile app development activities for the global innovation agency. By merging its Mobile Division with the mobile experts who were the creators of VLC for iOS, faberNovel is becoming the first publisher of mobile apps for services in France, while also seeking to expand its presence in the US and throughout the rest of the world. Baptiste Benezet, former Head of Mobile at faberNovel will be promoted to CEO of Applidium by faberNovel. According to Applidium founder Romain Goyer, now CTO, "We have been working closely with faberNovel for over a year now, and this acquisition makes a lot of sense. It is both an achievement and also full of promises for the future." Goyet was a developer for Apple before founding Applidium in 2010 with Marie Christol, a former engineer at Witbe.

Founded in 2003 by Stéphane Distinguin, faberNovel designs and creates innovative products and services, including several very successful mobile applications and has clients such as Orange, Volkswagen, and L'Oreal in its digital innovation practice. This acquisition makes the new subsidiary, Applidium by faberNovel, an incredible blend of talent and expertise, with the goal to serve the biggest corporate clients in the world for everything mobile.

Between the two companies over 30 apps were created and published in 2010 alone, totaling more than 6 million downloads. Top iPhone hits include Video Playback app VLC by Applidium (4.7 million) and the official app for Parisian Transportation Agency RATP by faberNovel (1.5 million), which had exceptional retention rates (80% of RATP Premium app users use it daily).

In a nutshell:
- The new team is multidisciplinary, including expertise in Function, Marketing, Design, Technicality
- Experts on all major platforms (iOS, Android, Nokia, WP7, BB)
- Main clients in Urban, Transportation, Media, Banking and Insurance
- Over 30 apps were published in 2010
- 2 Major app successes: VLC and RATP
- Over 6 millions downloads combined
- http://www.fabernovel.com/en

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Fabernovel links together concepts, talents, technologies and the appropriate market to allow our clients to create prototypes or enable innovative companies to define and lead for successful strategies focused on innovation and development.