Mahoney & Lyle

News Release

Company closes first of 3 tranches in Series D round. Backing will be used to complete product development near Grenoble and create a new display manufacturing facility based on Aledia’s proprietary technology of 3D microLEDs.

Echirolles, France, Oct. 7, 2020 – Aledia, a French startup that is pioneering a disruptive technology for microLED displays, has closed an €80M first tranche of its €120M D-round financing. The company will use the proceeds to complete its product development and create the first-of-its-kind, high-volume 3D microLED manufacturing facility in the Grenoble area for an estimated capex of €40 million. Spun out of CEA-Leti in 2012, Aledia uses its proprietary technology to develop LED chips for next-generation displays for laptops, tablets, smartphones, smartwatches, augmented-reality glasses and large TVs.

The Investment Fund Société de Projet Industriel (SPI), a fund managed by Bpifrance and underwritten by the French State as part of the Programme d’Investissements d’Avenir (PIA), is lead investor in the round and is joined by the majority of the existing strategic investors, including Intel Capital.

“There is a major turning point coming in the $120 billion per year display market as microLED technology starts to replace the traditional LCD and OLED technologies,’’ said Giorgio Anania, Aledia CEO and cofounder. “In addition to being more efficient and brighter than current alternatives, with better colors, and a faster refresh rate, these new displays will be competitively priced.”

He said Aledia is the only company targeting this market with a nanocrystal technology that uses very large-size silicon wafers (200-300mm in diameter) and with processes developed by the microelectronics industry, as opposed to the traditional technology of planar, 2D LEDs built on smaller, layered sapphire substrates of 100-150mm diameter. Aledia’s technology is protected by 197 patent families, making Aledia the leading French startup company in France in filed patents.

“Clearly there is significant competition in this market, and this investment allows Aledia to accelerate substantially its development and establish world-class manufacturing capabilities,” Anania said. “We are delighted to welcome SPI to our shareholder base, and we are also proud that our largest strategic investors and development partners are all reinvesting in this financing.’’

“The display industry is a large strategic market of the future, and Aledia is making a very ambitious play to become a leader in this space,” said Magali Joëssel, SPI fund director at Bpifrance. “With an investment of over €200 million in equipment over the next five years and plans to grow to approximately 500 employees, Aledia’s location in the Grenoble area signals a commitment to establish a world-scale industrial manufacturing facility in France. Bpifrance is pleased to support Aledia in this exciting endeavor.’’

“In a world where mobile computing has become essential, the need has never been greater for displays which are energy efficient, high definition and readable in all settings – indoors and outdoors. Aledia’s nanowire microLEDs are a key enabling technology for this next-generation of mobile consumer devices,” said Marshall Smith, senior director materials management at Intel. “We are pleased to be working with Aledia in helping it bring this technology to market.”

Aledia’s existing investors include Braemar Energy Ventures, Demeter Investment Partners, the Ecotechnologies fund of Bpifrance, Ingka Investments, Intel Capital, Sofinnova Ventures, Supernova Invest, TEL (Tokyo Electron), Valeo, and several large, additional technology companies.

The financing was managed by Ancoris Capital Partners of New York, with Orrick as legal advisers.

About Aledia

Aledia develops and manufactures microLED displays and components to equip the $120 billion worldwide display market with next-generation technology. Its proprietary 3D microLED technology uses GaN nanowires on large-area silicon that emit light and can be used to manufacture state-of-the-art displays which deliver better performance at competitive prices compared to current LCD and OLEDs technologies. These improvements include longer battery life on mobile devices, better outdoor readability and faster refresh rates, as well as sharper colors. The company is targeting markets for smartphones, laptops and tablets, augmented reality displays and large TVs. Based in the Grenoble area in France, Aledia has 125 employees. It was spun out of CEA-Leti, the French microelectronics R&D institute, in 2012. Visit www.aledia.com/

About Bpifrance and the SPI fund

Bpifrance is the French national investment bank: it finances businesses – at every stage of their development – through loans, guarantees, equity investments and export insurances. Bpifrance also provides extrafinancial services (training, consultancy) to help entrepreneurs meet their challenges (innovation, export…).

Managed by Bpifrance on behalf of the French State as part of the PIA Future Investments Program (Programme d’Investissements d’Avenir), the purpose of the SPI fund is to enable industrial projects with the best prospects for business and employment in industrial sectors to find support for their development. The fund acts as a prudent equity investor in project companies with industrialisation projects selected for their growth potential, the industry’s current position and their contribution to environmental and energy transition. It therefore constitutes one of the financial levers of the ‘New Industrial France’.

For more information, please visit: www.bpifrance.fr and presse.bpifrance.fr. Follow us on Twitter: @Bpifrance – @BpifrancePresse

PRESS RELEASE

VERSAILLES, France – May 30, 2017 – Mahoney Lyle, an international communications agency that specializes in building global identities for Internet of Things (IoT), telecom and microelectronics companies and other technology innovators, today announced it is creating and executing worldwide communication programs for Kerlink, the fast-growing pioneer of IoT solutions.

Kerlink (ALKLK – FR0013156007) provides equipment, software and services to telecom operators, smart cities and companies of all sizes worldwide that want to launch and operate IoT networks on LoRaWAN™. The Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) network provides the cost-savings and energy-efficiency features required for rapid worldwide implementation of the Internet of Things.
Based in Thorigné-Fouillard, France, Kerlink is a founding member and board director of the LoRa Alliance. The company went public in 2016 and has achieved a compound average annual growth rate above 50 percent since 2013. Fiscal 2016 revenue nearly doubled vs. 2015.

Mahoney Lyle, which has specialized in communicating about the IoT since 2012, will partner with Kerlink to design and execute the company’s strategic communication and marketing programs across diverse platforms, such as public relations, analyst relations and social media, to support the company’s expansion in Europe, the U.S. and Asia Pacific.

“Mahoney Lyle early on established its expertise in delivering sophisticated and proactive Internet of Things press, analyst and media communications programs on the international stage,” said Stéphane Dejean, Kerlink’s chief marketing officer. “Their team offers Kerlink the experience, professional counsel and rapid response needed to support our ambitious international growth plans.”

“Kerlink, which reflects the vitality of France’s innovative tech sector, will accelerate implementation of the Internet of Things by telecoms, smart cities and individual companies, globally,” said Amélie Ravier, Mahoney Lyle’s director of PR and social media. “In addition to its innovative, proven IoT solutions, Kerlink is a powerful example of how technology entrepreneurs can create and quickly ramp up a company to meet industry needs worldwide.”

About Mahoney Lyle
Mahoney Lyle Communications brings more than three decades of combined experience in creating and executing strategic communications plans and programs for tech clients that want to rapidly build their international identities. The agency’s messaging and execution expertise covers the Internet of Things, telecom, and the entire microelectronics value chain. ML’s size and entrepreneurial mindset assure a rapid response to client opportunities using PR, social media and other platforms. See mmm.mahoneylyle.com or follow ML on Twitter.

About Kerlink
Kerlink specialises in network solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT). Its mission is to provide its clients – telecom carriers, businesses and public authorities – with network solutions (equipment, software and services) dedicated to the Internet of Things. Over the past three years, Kerlink has invested more than €8 million in R&D. In just over 10 years, more than 70,000 Kerlink installations have already been rolled out for more than 260 clients, including GrDF, Suez, Saur and Médiamétrie. In 2016, Kerlink generated revenues of €14.1 million, 25% of which internationally. Since 2013, it has posted average annual growth of more than 50%. Kerlink has been listed on Alternext Paris since May 2016.
For more information, visit www.kerlink.fr or follow us on Twitter

For the second consecutive year, France ranks third globally in innovation, based on data compiled for the 2016 Clarivate Analytics Top 100 Global Innovators report. French public-sector research organizations, CEA, CNRS and IFP Energies Nouvelles, joined Arkema, Saint-Gobain and Safran as perennial research standouts in the rankings since the report’s first edition in 2011.

Total S.A. debuted on the list in 2016, while Alstom made its second appearance. Thales and Valeo made the grade for the fourth time. France placed 10 companies and research organizations in both the 2015 and 2016 top 100 rankings, behind the US (35, 39) and Japan (40, 34).

Here’s the 2016 ranking:

US – 39%

Japan – 34%

France – 10%

Germany – 4%

Korea – 3%

Switzerland – 3%

The Netherlands – 2%

China – 1%

Finland – 1%

Ireland – 1%

Sweden – 1%

Taiwan – 1%

“Now in its sixth year, the 2016 Top 100 Global Innovators report reveals a prominent shift in strategy among the world’s top innovators. Notably, the volume of patents filed has decreased, while grant rates have increased,” writes David Brown, EVP of Clarivate, formerly Thomson Reuters.

“That trend, combined with a significant commitment to R&D spending, showcases an increased commitment to quality over quantity for commercializing new inventions… On average, the 2016 Top 100 Global Innovators invest 9.1 percent more in R&D than those in the S&P 100, underlining the importance they place on innovation.”

The rankings criteria are:

• Volume: countries must have at least 100 unique inventions protected by a granted patent over the past five years.
• Success: the ratio of patent applications to those that were granted
• Globalization: the value organizations place on protecting inventions across major markets
• Influence: how often the patents are cited in other patent applications

Of course, in small samples, small changes may exaggerate impacts. Between 2013 and 2014, France’s score slipped from 12 to seven. That could have seemed alarming as a percentage change.

Where’s the UK?

The UK, which last merited a mention in the 2011 report when it had one company listed, is conspicuous by its absence from the rankings. But UK researchers probably are more concerned about post-Brexit research funding than any contemporary comparisons.

Still, the UK retains bragging rights as a startup powerhouse, according to data on funding for new companies. La French Tech, a publicly and privately funded group dedicated to helping French startups prosper, reports that for the last half of 2015 and the first two quarters of 2016, UK startups raised significantly more money than their German and French counterparts. France trailed both countries in those four quarters, but had a strong showing in Q3 last year.

“In Q3’16, buoyed by a $279M deal to OVH.com, total funding was 85% higher than that to Germany-based startups and only 7% behind the UK,” La French Tech notes.

“(French) deal flow has been trending up since 2012 and recently surged 71 percent over 2015 full-year for a 4-year high of 368 deals in just the first three quarters of 2016.”

In fact, investor enthusiasm for French entrepreneurial enterprises set an annual record in the first nine months of 2016: $1.5 billion. “Funding has generally been trending up since Q2’13,” the report says. “From Q2’16 to Q3’16, funding grew 200 percent to reach $857M in total funding over 145 deals.”

There are multiple ways to compare how nations stack up vs. one another for global economic, scientific and entrepreneurial prestige. Here is a World Economic Forum summary of country competitiveness.

Mahoney Lyle is pleased to announce our partnership with Bannigan Communications to provide our international clients with seasoned PR counsel, broad industry knowhow and proven program execution in the Asia Pacific region. Headquartered in New York, Bannigan Communications has its primary global hub based out of Hong Kong.

As ML’s strategic partner in the region, Bannigan Communications brings our clients experience in APAC tech industries, expertise in the cultural nuances of communicating in each country and locally based, on-the-ground professional counsel. With more than 20 years of experience in the region, the agency has long-term relationships with PR firms throughout the APAC region, working together as a multi-country team on international brands around the world.

“We are thrilled to be working together with Mahoney Lyle, providing our Asia Pac expertise,” says Helen Bannigan, CEO of Bannigan Communications. “Our industry knowledge combined with local cultural savvy will enhance Mahoney Lyle’s solid capabilities in helping clients achieve their goals around the world.”

Over the past 50 years, Leti has established its reputation as a leading micro- and nanoelectronics research institute that helps global companies, SMEs and startups differentiate their products and improve their competiveness. At CES, it is showing the world its entrepreneurial spirit, as well.

For the second consecutive year, Leti is demonstrating novel consumer concepts at CES. This year’s innovations include a wearable device that takes measurement of brain activity – alpha waves – out of the clinic and puts it into the hands of consumers. The lightweight RELAX headgear uses electroencephalography (EEG) to record the brain’s alpha-wave activity, an indication of alert relaxation, with an embedded electrode system that does not require the sensors to be attached to the scalp.

“Leti’s manufacturing partners will develop our brain-computer and mental-focus technologies into full hardware-software concepts,” said Leti’s Coralie Gallis. “They will be able to develop a wide range of wellness devices and wearable sports- and fitness-related devices, such as wrist bands and chest straps.”

Sigma Fusion

Leti also will demonstrate Sigma Fusion, its innovative low-cost solution for autonomous cars, which transforms the myriad of incoming distance data into clear information about the driving environment. This efficient perception system combines, merges and feeds exhaustive data to an autonomous car’s autopilot, providing all it needs to guarantee safe driving. It is able to detect any kind of obstacle and to assess obstacle-free spaces for safe route navigation.

PUSH Pedal
The third demo is the first bicycle-pedal power meter under $100 that measures both strength applied on the pedal and pedaling cadence, and then combines them to deliver the cyclist’s power output in real time.

Designed for weekend cyclists as well as pros, Push pedal also features embedded power metering, which differentiates between a real pedal stroke and other movement and only measures the former. A single Push pedal provides reliable power metrics and it works perfectly either way up.

Leti Spinoffs at CES
Speaking of sports, the Leti spinoff MOOVLAB will present its connected fitness-platform prototypes for trainers, coaches and sports enthusiasts. Visitors at its booth will be able to participate in a round of virtual boxing training in a professional-size boxing ring wearing gloves embedded with sensors that measure performance, such as power, speed, reactivity, frequency and explosive power.

eLichens will demonstrate its air-quality sensing technology that it plans to bring to market this year. Lichens are air pollution bio-indicators, and eLichens uses that capability in its digital markers of air quality. The company develops services and miniaturized sensors for both industrial and consumer markets to detect, monitor and predict air quality both indoors and outdoors.

Although industrial-grade sensors of this type are available now, they are often energy-hungry and bulky, with a short lifespan. eLichens offers differentiating solutions with ultra-low-power, low-carbon footprint and smart sensors, featuring an increased lifespan.

Leti has launched about 60 startups since its founding 50 years ago.

Next week, the Connected Conference will gather players from across Europe to explore and benefit from the convergence of Hardware & Software, of Physical & Digital, of Industry & Internet.

Most of the exhibiting companies are startups that have developed disruptive technologies around the Internet of Things. Mahoney Lyle has extensive experience helping startups introduce themselves to their key audience with targeted messaging.

For the third year, Mahoney Lyle will attend the conference with two of its most prestigious clients, SIGFOX and Leti.

We look forward to being there and meeting with the international media and inspired entrepreneurs, proudly presenting what French Tech has to offer.
Let’s connect!

info@mahoneylyle.com or +33 (0)6.64.52.81.10

Agence de relations presse internationale en pleine croissance spécialisée dans les nouvelles technologies recherche un(e) stagiaire pour assister les attachées de presse dans les tâches courantes telles que la veille media et le community management pour nos clients, qualification de fichiers de presse, relationnel assidu avec les journalistes et bloggers, organisation d’interviews et d’événements presse, réalisation de revues de presse et compte-rendu auprès des clients.

Vos atouts : Très bonne maîtrise de Word, Excel, et PPT. Excellent rédactionnel et relationnel, très bonne maîtrise de l’anglais oral et écrit, intérêt pour les nouvelles technologies et le monde scientifique et une bonne connaissance des réseaux sociaux vous permettront d’approfondir un métier passionnant qui apporte son lot de challenges quotidiens. Notre équipe étant multiculturelle, une grande ouverture d’esprit est de rigueur ! Ce stage peut déboucher sur un CDI.

A vous de jouer : envoyez votre CV accompagné d’une lettre de motivation à info [@] mahoneylyle.com, en français et en anglais, vos idées afin de vous rencontrer très prochainement.

Type d’emploi : Stage

Expérience(s) exigée(s) :
• Attaché de presse, community management : 1 an

Langue exigée :
• anglais

If your responsibilities include marketing communications strategy for an Internet of Things company, you know that the IoT is an exciting space, one of the few real bright spots for growth in today’s world economy. People are eager for news and technology announcements because the applicability of IoT technology is so broad, and because many IoT products and services will genuinely change our lives for the better.

The IoT marketing communications challenge, of course, is that thousands of companies are jockeying for business, investments and share of mind. So it’s especially important to make your company’s virtues and value quickly understandable – a subject we will touch on regularly in this space.

What we’re talking about is a combination of positioning (which stems largely from your technology and business model) and language (which derives from your understanding of your marketplace and your potential customers and partners).

One helpful starting point comes from Frank Burkitt, an advisor at Strategy&, who in a recent article divided IoT companies into three broad categories:

• “Enablers” that develop and implement the underlying technology
• “Engagers” that design, create, integrate and deliver IoT services to customers
• “Enhancers” that devise their own value-added services, on top of the services provided by Engagers, that are unique to the Internet of Things

As marketers and communicators, we can think about what sort of company will do best in each of these categories, and use this as a basis for our strategic thinking.

Many Enablers, for example, would be well served to present themselves as a “plays well with others” company – open, friendly, flexible and dedicated to making it easy for your customers to accomplish their goals. A model for this B-to-B oriented category might be Cisco’s historical approach to enabling Internet data communication across a wide range of applications.

Engagers often have more space to emphasize their creativity, genius and boldness. There’s room to be an individual star when you’re selling a disruptive product or service directly to end-users. Apple is a classic example; by making the user experience their top priority, they transcended the traditional “tech company” realm, while offering versatile technology platforms.

Enhancers might typically want to be seen as perceptive, smart and reliable – the kind of company that notices something that others don’t, and finds a way to make useful new connections. Examples include Pandora or Facebook – neither is a technological groundbreaker, but both have won tremendous loyalty by leveraging existing technology platforms to fulfill basic human needs and desires.

These are, obviously, generalities; every enterprise has a unique challenge and needs unique positioning and language. But these basic directions are a good first step towards an IoT branding and marketing communications strategy, or even a basic public relations program.

By Pete Dunn

On Sept. 29, CERN will mark its 60^th anniversary, celebrating “60 years of science for peace.” CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) is perhaps the world’s most prominent monument to basic research and is famously the home of Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which discovered, or proved the existence of, the Higgs boson in 2012.

It was a major event in the often-quiet world of basic research. More than two-dozen countries have poured $9 billion or so (nearly 7 million euros) into the particle accelerator more than 30 meters underneath Geneva and the surrounds. While that’s a lot of money, quick payoffs are not expected in basic research, and for some that may provide an element of controversy.

“Basic research, the attempt to understand the fundamental principles of science, is so risky, in fact, that only the federal government is willing to keep pouring money into it,” the New York Times reported in 2010. “It is a venture that produces far fewer hits than misses.”

Yet sometimes the hits expand humanity’s understanding of the big questions that go beyond the day to day, and these results may eventually impact our daily lives.

Sean Carroll, a theoretical physicist at the California Institute of Technology, notes in his book about the discovery of the Higgs, “The Particle at the End of the Universe,” that quantum mechanics was a relatively abstract field in the early decades of the 20^th century. But it led to the development of transistors, lasers, superconductivity, light-emitting diodes and nuclear power.

Carroll’s book tells the story of the LHC and the efforts of thousands of scientists that led to the discovery. In 2013, the book won the UK’s Royal Society Winton Prize for Science books, and was named best science book of the year by The Guardian, Financial Times and New Scientist.

The Standard Model

He counts the Higgs boson detection among the most significant scientific discoveries of the past century.

For much of the 20^th century, scientists thought the universe was made of atoms and their protons, neutrons and electrons. We now know there’s more to protons and neutrons, subatomic particles like quarks, leptons and bosons: 12 elementary particles in total that make up the Standard Model of particle physics.

By validating a theory proposed by the British scientist Peter Higgs and others in the 1960s, the Higgs boson discovery puts a finishing touch on the Standard Model, which explains what the universe is made of and more or less how it works. It helps scientists understand the four forces that govern the particles: gravity, electromagnetism and the strong and weak nuclear forces.

“Its field fills space, breaks symmetries, gives mass and individuality to the other particles in the Standard Model,” Carroll writes of the Higgs. “If the Higgs boson didn’t exist, the universe would be an utterly different place.”

That is one basic takeaway from Carroll’s book: discovery of the Higgs boson is important because it confirms the existence of the Higgs field, which gives particles mass.

Quantum field theory and the meaning of life

Carroll uses the particles-and-fields dichotomy – an essential aspect of particle physics – to state what he calls a neglected truth: fields matter more. Scientists just see particles when they zero in on fields. “It’s a fact of physics that all the different particles really arise out of fields – that’s quantum field theory, the underlying framework for everything that particle physicists do.” Here’s a link to a lively Carroll presentation at the Royal Institution about the Higgs discovery and other milestones of particle physics research, including quantum field theory and how it can simplify our understanding of daily life on Earth.

Carroll says the LHC “represents a new era in physics, smashing together particles with an energy never before achieved by humankind.” The accelerator is preparing for its second three-year run, to begin in 2015.

But there may be competition to be the source of the next big discoveries involving microcosmic particles and the still-hidden nature of the universe. Despite its cost, basic research is regarded as a priority for many countries.

The Chinese are planning to build a ‘Higgs factory’ by 2028, on their way to a next-generation super collider. Discussions about super colliders, envisioned for the mid-2030s, also are underway in the U.S. and Europe.

Jerry Mahoney

On ne présente plus la révolution engagée par l’Internet des Objets. Souvent comparée à l’avènement d’Internet au début des années 2000, elle est parfois moquée ou accueillie d’un haussement d’épaule, tant votre interlocuteur n’en a cure ou n’y comprend rien. Mais comme pour l’internet il y a 15 ans, le récalcitrant finira par céder à la tendance. Dans quelques mois, quelques années au plus tard, son smartphone sera très certainement connecté à des dizaines d’appareils, comme sa machine à café, pour qu’il soit prêt au saut du lit, le collier de son chien, pour ne plus jamais perdre Médor en balade, ou encore son T-shirt de sport, pour mesurer son rythme cardiaque pendant l’effort.

Vous l’aurez compris, l’Internet des Objets, communément appelé IoT (Internet of Things), touchera le monde entier. Et ceux qui pensaient être trop vieux ou trop réactionnaires pour prendre le train en marche, en seront très probablement les premiers bénéficiaires : les micro-capteurs placés un peu partout dans la maison ou la ville serviront à alerter les proches en cas de chute et permettront à des automobilistes de repérer les places de parking disponibles.

En France, c’est bien connu, les idées nouvelles ne trouvent pas toujours un accueil favorable. Notre pays prend souvent du retard dans l’adoption de nouvelles pratiques. La nouvelle génération d’ingénieurs et de chercheurs semble toutefois faire un pied-de-nez à ce constat. Les startups dites de la « French Tech », jaillissent dans tout le pays. Des idées toujours plus folles, plus ingénieuses, que l’on s’emploie à réaliser et mettre en place dans un contexte économique peu propice à l’entreprenariat. Et pourtant…

Si nos ingénieurs français ont la côte dans le monde entier, un travail de communication et de relationnel reste à faire. Si l’investissement n’est pas au goût du jour en France, il faut aller le chercher ailleurs. Et en profiter pour développer de nouveaux marchés. La planète entière attend d’être connectée. Des besoins se créent tous les jours. Mais pour cela, il faut communiquer. Expliquer de manière claire et concise le produit ou la solution que l’on apporte. Il faut dire que ce n’est pas toujours évident de parler de connectivité, capteurs MEMS, localisation intégrée… et de surcroît en anglais.

Les nouvelles technologies offrent une vitrine interactive idéale pour exposer ses idées et ses travaux, il ne faut pas en avoir peur. Twitter n’est pas qu’une plateforme de lynchage médiatique ou de querelles footballistiques sans fond. Et LinkedIn n’est pas seulement peuplé de CV de stagiaires en première année d’école de commerce. Des discussions, des échanges d’idées ont lieu tous les jours sur ces réseaux. Et des partenariats s’y créent, des rencontres y ont lieu.

Il ne faut pas négliger les journalistes et bloggeurs qui sont friands d’histoires nouvelles, de « success stories » à la française. La convergence des médias et la multiplication des supports de publications les obligent à rédiger pour plusieurs magazines, blogs, sites internet à la fois. Ils veulent du contenu, donnons-leur de la matière. En racontant des histoires, en « packageant » l’innovation de façon simple et précise, les pépites que sont ces nouvelles technologies pourront conquérir les médias et le monde.

Enfin, partagez vos points de vue avec d’autres acteurs de l’IoT et rendez-vous visibles lors de tables rondes, conférences, salons… Il n’y a rien de tel que le bon vieux « face to face » pour donner envie de travailler ensemble.

Soyez ingénieux, mais n’oubliez pas d’être ouvert sur le monde, multiculturel, engageant, et de soigner vos contacts. Comme l’IoT, la communication et les relations publiques sont une affaire de connexion.

Amélie Ravier