Press Release
Brussels, 12 December 2017
Start-ups Communithings, Zembro and Charlie24 officially selected to enter the first Orange Fab season of Belgium and Luxembourg
Orange Fab, Orange's exclusive international accelerator network, kicked off its first edition in Belgium and Luxembourg this September. Sixty start-ups submitted an application to participate. Beginning November, twenty start-ups presented their innovative products and services to a jury of professionals. Ten went to the final round. Last week Communithins, Zembro and Charlie24 were selected to officially participate in this first season of Orange Fab in Belgium and Luxembourg. The main objectives are to create a commercial acceleration between the start-ups and the Business Units of Orange Belgium and Luxembourg and to help the start-ups to grow thanks to Orange's worldwide footprint.
On 1 September 2017 Orange Fab BeLux opened its doors for the first time to Belgian and Luxembourg start-ups that are developing new products and innovative services in sectors such as Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, mobile video content, networks . From the sixty start-ups that submitted an application, 3 will now enter Orange Fab, developed by the Orange Group to support and promote talents that will change the way we live and work tomorrow.
Michaël Trabbia, CEO of Orange Belgium, elaborates: "The winning start-ups blew us away with powerful speeches and strong arguments on how their innovative products and services can complete Orange's portfolio. By entering the Orange Fab program they will now benefit from a business acceleration in Belgium and Luxembourg with the support of amongst others, our sales, marketing and communication departments from mid-January until mid-April 2018. They will also benefit from international visibility at the highest level together with the Orange Group leveraging the worldwide presence of Orange in 29 countries and with more than 250 million customers. We look forward to helping them grow their business and seek to build strong and mutually beneficial partnerships."
Communithings, Zembro and Charlie24 start a new phase in their development
Communithings provides smart parking solutions to help cities overcome traffic congestion linked with parking search. The jury was impressed with the platform support of NB-IoT, perceived as synergetic with Orange NB-IoT offering to its B2B market.
Etay Oren, CEO of CommuniThings: "We look forward to deepen our cooperation with Orange and extend our presence within the Orange footprint. The upcoming launch of NB-IoT by Orange allows us to provide dedicated low-power solutions for different segments across cities and enterprises. It is a great opportunity to work with Orange's technical experts to see how we can improve and grow our IoT solutions."
Zembro's modern alarm system is an intelligent watch, designed for active seniors. Zembro helps Seniors to remain independent at home as long as possible. Zembro gives family members peace of mind because they know seniors can reach help in case of emergency.
Johan De Geyter, CEO of Zembro: "We think our Zembro watch will be a great added value for Orange connected objects portfolio. Orange marketing and sales teams will definitely help us to further increase our access to the market in Belux and Europe."
Charlie24 was chosen because its Assistance-on-Demand that enables drivers to immediately access road assistance from local professionals at a clear and transparent price, is a product that might be integrated in the Orange services for customers.
Chris Aelbrecht, one of the founders of Charlie24: "We are thrilled we have been chosen to be part of Orange Fab. We are convinced we can add value for Orange customers as they already find road related services like Coyote as a service in many tariff plans. By adding Charlie24 Assistance-on-Demand they will experience a complete ease and peace of mind on the road."
More info on the winners: www.communithings.com, www.zembro.coom, www.charlie24.com.
More information about Orange Fab in Belgium and in Luxembourg on: www.orangefab.be
About Orange Fab
Orange Fab is an international accelerator network for start-ups from the Orange Group programme, now active in 15 countries. Orange Fab's main objective is to create a commercial partnership between the start-ups and the Business Units of Orange. It will also help start-ups develop their business and activities. The network Orange Fab is designed to be a launch pad for start-ups to accelerate their growth and boost their local and international visibility.
Since its launch in 2013, Orange Fab has already contributed to the development of nearly 250 start-ups worldwide.
About Orange Belgium
Orange Belgium is a leading telecommunications operator on the Belgian market with over 3 million customers; Orange is also active in Luxembourg through its subsidiary Orange Communications Luxembourg.
As a convergent actor, we provide mobile telecommunications services, internet and TV to private clients as well as innovative mobile and fixed line services to businesses. Our high-performance mobile network supports 2G, 3G, 4G and 4G+ technology and is the subject of ongoing investments.
Orange Belgium is a subsidiary of the Orange Group, one of the leading European and African operators for mobile telephony and internet access, as well as one of the world leaders in telecommunications services for enterprises.
Orange Belgium is listed on the Brussels Stock Exchange (OBEL).
More information on: corporate.orange.be, www.orange.be or follow us on Twitter : @pressOrangeBe.
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press@orange.be
Contact investors
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