Maddyness

2 co-founders, 40 employees

Twelve years ago, in a context where the entrepreneurial ecosystem in France was still in its early stages, Louis Carle and Etienne Portais founded Maddyness with a clear vision of becoming the leading media outlet for the French startup ecosystem. As co-founders with well-defined roles, Louis Carle - President, oversees the commercial and e-commerce teams, while Etienne Portais, General Director, manages the editorial content, events, audiovisual materials, and the teams of journalists and freelancers. In 2023, Maddyness welcomed a new investor, business angel Marc Menasé, head of the investment firm Founders Future. This prominent figure in the French tech sector, who has created three startups and co-founded the industry association France Digitale, acquired half of the capital, with the other half remaining in the hands of the founders.

Louis CARLE

Co-founder and President

Etienne PORTAIS

Co-founder & CEO

The French press sector and the start-up ecosystem in France are facing major challenges. On the one hand, access to information is increasingly limited, with 95% of daily and weekly newspapers adopting paid or mixed models (Reuters Institute, 2017). This situation significantly restricts access to content, especially in professional journalism, exacerbating inequalities in access to quality information. This accessibility issue is accompanied by a lack of trust in free media, as the general perception attributes higher quality and credibility to paid media compared to free media (Ipsos Media). At the same time, the start-up ecosystem suffers from a severe lack of inclusion and representation. Entrepreneurs from ethnic minorities, women, and those from diverse socio-economic backgrounds are largely underrepresented. For example, only 22% of start-ups created in Europe in 2022 have at least one woman among their founders, and only 17% of the funds raised go to diverse founding teams. Finally, the start-up ecosystem still lacks structure. Start-ups may find themselves isolated or struggling to access the networks and funding necessary for sustainable growth. In the face of these challenges, it is imperative to support the development of an emerging media specializing in the new economy, which could play a crucial role by providing an inclusive, accessible, and high-quality information platform and by launching initiatives aimed at promoting a more equitable and sustainable development for all start-ups.

Maddyness addresses these challenges in a concrete manner. As a mission-driven company since 2021, the media outlet has set itself the goal of providing accessible and high-quality economic information on entrepreneurship and innovation to equip its readers with the keys to understand and prepare for the future by developing sustainable solutions. At the same time, Maddyness emphasizes diversity and inclusion in its content and activities. Through video series such as "B Stories" and "Change My Mind," Maddyness highlights committed businesses and tackles gender parity issues in the Tech sector. Across all its editorial, audiovisual, and event operations, Maddyness supports equity, diversity, and inclusion. Finally, Maddyness strives to structure the entrepreneurial ecosystem by placing regions at the heart of technological developments. Initiatives such as the Fundtruck, a regional touring competition that facilitates connections between regional start-ups and investors, and the MDVC platform, which connects start-ups seeking funding with investors, are examples of efforts to reduce territorial inequalities and promote the development of this new economy. Maddyness is thus actively committed to fostering an inclusive, dynamic, and sustainable entrepreneurial environment for all innovation actors in France.

With its existing activities, Maddyness achieved a revenue of €3.5 million in 2023, which seems to indicate a plateau in activity compared to €3.2 million in 2022. To sustain its business model, the media outlet is launching two new subscription services to ensure recurring revenues (Maddy+ and MDVC). Until recently, Maddyness' revenue was composed of various sub-activities: advertising and editorial partnerships (its main activity, representing 40% of revenue), bespoke event management for the media and external brands, content studio and production, and MaddyKeynote, a day of conferences and networking generating ticketing and event sponsorship revenues. New additions include MDVC, a subscription-based investor database; the Premium Maddy+ offer, a subscription service (€49/month) that includes investigative articles, removal of paywalls, and exclusive access to additional content; and a daily newsletter (currently 5% of revenue, with a goal of 25% by 2028) along with new digital advertising formats. Maddyness is positioned in the most dynamic segment of the press market, which is digital (+8% in 2023 vs 2022), and distinguishes itself from the competition through its specialization in entrepreneurial topics that attract younger audiences and its strong brand image. Today, Maddyness reaches over 1 million readers per month and has 200,000 subscribers to its newsletter. Thanks to its revenue diversification strategy, the media outlet anticipates a return to profitability by 2025, with a positive EBITDA expected as early as October 2024.

As a mission-driven company and B Corp certified since 2022, Maddyness asserts its editorial and financial independence and aims to ensure impact in several ways:

- Making diversity and inclusion a priority: By highlighting entrepreneurs from all backgrounds and addressing gender parity issues in the Tech world.

- Promoting sustainability and environmental preservation: By steering its actions towards carbon neutrality for all its activities. The Maddy Keynote aims for zero waste (4% waste in 2023) with the reuse of materials and the cessation of non-reusable giveaways and decorations. In addition to being a mission-driven company, Maddyness is also an ambassador for Planet Tech’Care, a signatory of Tech Zero, and is committed to collaborating with actors in the French digital ecosystem to reduce its environmental footprint. Maddyness has also recently joined the Quotaclimat association, which guarantees that 20% of its editorial content addresses impact and ecological urgency.

- Ensuring quality information is accessible to the widest audience: By providing 80% of its content for free to 1 million readers per month.