Viadeo
{{Short description|Social networking service}}
{{COI|date=June 2013}}
{{Infobox website
| name = Viadeo
| logo = Logo Viadeo.png
| caption = User's dashboard
| company_type = Public
| url = [http://www.viadeo.com/ www.viadeo.com]
| website_type = Professional network service
| commercial = Yes
| registration = Required
| area_served = Worldwide
| owner =
| founder = Dan Serfaty, Thierry Lunati
| foundation = Paris, France
| num_employees = 400
| launch_date = May 2004
Paris
| language = English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian
| current_status = Active
| revenue = $40 million (2009 estimation)
| screenshot =
}}
Viadeo is a Web 2.0 professional social network whose members include business owners, entrepreneurs and managers.{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/04/11/viadeo-raises-32m-to-expand-its-professional-social-network-in-china-russia-and-beyond/ |title=Viadeo Raises $32M To Expand Its Professional Social Network In China, Russia And Beyond |date=11 April 2012 |publisher=TechCrunch.com |access-date=17 July 2012}} Viadeo was often compared to LinkedIn, offering free access but not being able to compete with the larger corporation.{{cite web |last1=Richaud |first1=Nicolas |title=Comment Viadeo a fini par valoir 2.440 fois moins que LinkedIn |url=https://www.lesechos.fr/2016/11/comment-viadeo-a-fini-par-valoir-2440-fois-moins-que-linkedin-221946 |website=Les Echos |date=30 November 2016 |access-date=28 September 2021}} As of 2014, the site had 65 million members.{{cite web |url=http://corporate.viadeo.com/en/2014/12/11/viadeo-continues-to-grow-65-million-members-worldwide-including-25-million-in-china/ |title=Viadeo continues to grow: 65 million members worldwide, including 25 million in China |date=11 December 2014 |publisher=Viadeo SA |access-date=24 February 2015 |archive-date=14 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214034017/http://corporate.viadeo.com/en/2014/12/11/viadeo-continues-to-grow-65-million-members-worldwide-including-25-million-in-china/ |url-status=dead }}
Company information
Viadeo was founded under its original name, Viaduc, in May 2004 by Dan Serfaty, a graduate of the HEC School of Management in Paris, and Thierry Lunati, a graduate of École centrale Paris. The name was changed to Viadeo in November 2006."[http://www.zdnet.fr/actualites/reseaux-sociaux-viaduc-devient-viadeo-pour-attaquer-l-international-39365032.htm Réseaux sociaux: Viaduc devient Viadeo pour attaquer l'international]," ZDnet.fr, 27 Nov. 2006
From November 2006 to August 2007, Viadeo raised €5 million twice in funding from investors AGF Private Equity and Ventech.{{cite web|url=http://mashable.com/2007/08/31/viadeo/ |title=LinkedIn Competitor Viadeo Raises €5 Million |date=31 August 2007 |publisher=mashable.com |access-date=10 July 2010}} Later that year, Viadeo announced the acquisition of Tianji.com, a Chinese business social network.
Six months after purchasing Tianji, in July 2008 Viadeo acquired its Spanish competitor ICTnet. Launched in 1995, ICTnet had 300,000 members and is popular in South America.{{cite web |url=http://fr.techcrunch.com/2008/07/12/fr-viadeo-acquiert-le-reseau-social-professionnel-espagnol-ictnet/ |title=Viadeo acquiert le réseau social professionnel espagnol ICTnet |date=12 July 2008 |language=fr |publisher=TechCrunch.com |access-date=10 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120506033017/http://fr.techcrunch.com/2008/07/12/fr-viadeo-acquiert-le-reseau-social-professionnel-espagnol-ictnet/ |archive-date=6 May 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}
In early 2009, Viadeo acquired the Indian professional social networks services, ApnaCircle. ApnaCircle, with 300,000 members at the time of the acquisition, was founded by Yogesh Bansal and later joined by Sabeer Bhatia, co-founder of Hotmail, as board member.{{cite web |url=http://www.vccircle.com/500/news/french-business-networking-site-viadeo-acquires-apnacircle |title=French Business Networking Site Viadeo Acquires ApnaCircle |date=14 February 2009 |publisher=VC Circle |access-date=10 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013172400/http://www.vccircle.com/news/telecom/2009/02/13/french-business-networking-site-viadeo-acquires-apnacircle |archive-date=13 October 2013 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}
On 13 October 2009, Viadeo announced the acquisition of the Canadian contact management website, unyk.com. At the time, unyk had 16 million members around the world, and this made Viadeo second only to its main competitor LinkedIn in terms of total membership.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE59C22M20091013?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews |title=Viadeo buys Unyk, second only to LinkedIn |date=13 October 2009 |publisher=Reuters |access-date=13 July 2010}}
The company is headquartered in Paris, and employs a global staff of 450, with offices in London, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Beijing, New Delhi, Mexico City, Montreal, and San Francisco.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64H2IA20100518 |title=Viadeo looking for buys, opens U.S. office |date=18 May 2010 |publisher=Reuters |access-date=10 July 2010}}{{cite web |url=http://corporate.viadeo.com/images/stories/pdf/2010/en/viadeosf2010-05-20.pdf |title=Viadeo opens Asia/Pacific headquarters in San Francisco |date=19 May 2010 |publisher=Viadeo |access-date=10 July 2010 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} In 2009, Viadeo had estimated annual turnover of $40 million {{cite web |url=http://www.ferris.com/2009/12/16/viadeo-professional-networking/ |title=Ferris Research - Viadeo: Professional Networking |date=16 December 2009 |publisher=Ferris Research |access-date=10 July 2010 |archive-date=14 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101114070942/http://www.ferris.com/2009/12/16/viadeo-professional-networking/ |url-status=dead }} and is profitable since last quarter of 2009.
In August 2015, Viadeo announced they had engaged in an advertising campaign in France to promote a 'new vision' and that the member base had passed the 10 million mark in France.{{Cite web|title = Viadeo: Results for the First Half of 2015|url = http://www.streetinsider.com/Press+Releases/Viadeo%253A+Results+for+the+First+Half+of+2015/10846878.html|access-date = 2015-09-11}}
In 2016, after a failed attempt to conquer international markets, the company was taken over by Le Figaro.{{Cite news|title = Figaro Classifieds, la filiale petites annonces du groupe de médias, reprend Viadeo|newspaper = Le Monde.fr|date = 23 December 2016|url = https://www.lemonde.fr/emploi/article/2016/12/23/le-site-viadeo-rachete-par-le-groupe-le-figaro_5053572_1698637.html|access-date = 2019-03-24}}
Partnerships
- Google OpenSocial: Viadeo is partner since launch in 2007{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2007/11/01/confirmed-myspace-to-join-google-opensocial/ |title=Checkmate? MySpace, Bebo and SixApart To Join Google OpenSocial (confirmed) |quote=MySpace and Six Apart join Orkut, Salesforce, LinkedIn, Ning, Hi5, Plaxo, Friendster, Viadeo and Oracle as announced Google partners. |date=1 November 2007 |publisher=TechCrunch.com |access-date=16 July 2010}}
- IBM Lotus Notes: Viadeo available for professionals using IBM Lotus Notes{{cite web|url=http://www-01.ibm.com/software/lotus/events/lotusphere2010/news/viadeopr.html |title=Viadeo's "Global-Yet-Local" B2B Social Network Integrates with IBM Lotus Software to Provide Collaboration Tools for Professionals |date=18 January 2010 |publisher=IBM |access-date=16 July 2010}}
- Microsoft Outlook Connector: Viadeo available on Outlook.{{cite web |url=http://corporate.viadeo.com/images/stories/pdf/2010/en/microsoftoutlook2010-05-13.pdf |title=Viadeo signs a partnership agreement with Microsoft as Office 2010 is launched worldwide |date=13 May 2010 |publisher=Viadeo |access-date=16 July 2010 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.viadeo.com Viadeo Website]
- [http://corporate.viadeo.com Viadeo Corporate Website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717194820/http://corporate.viadeo.com/ |date=2011-07-17 }}
{{Social network}}
{{Microblogging}}
Category:Internet properties established in 2004
Category:French companies established in 2004
Category:Professional networks
Category:French social networking websites