MapR's core business is Big Data. They are specialized in Hadoop. They chose Paris for their Southern Europe headquarters. Steve Fitz, Senior Vice-President, Worldwide Field Operations, tells us why MapR chose France.
What is MapR's core business?
Our core business is big data. We specialize in Hadoop which is one of the main components of big data that allows companies to track analytics on mobile devices and recommendation engines, and to leverage their data more effectively.
We have over 170 employees today, we were founded back in 2009 and have raised just over US$60 million of venture capital in the last four years.
A couple of examples of our customers, both in the United States and globally, are Camscore, who have used us now for several years and who track all internet activity; Sony Corporation in Japan; and Cisco in the United States. They use us for different applications involving Hadoop and big data.
Why did your company choose France?
As we opened up in markets across Europe, in the UK, in Germany, it was just a matter of time before we opened up our French region which actually covers what we call "Southern Europe", addressing all the southern European market.
What else makes France attractive to you as an investor?
France is a well-established and mature market for technology. We saw that it was a relatively early adopter for technology involving big data, and so we wanted to gain a first-mover advantage in this market.
We were able to establish early partnerships with Bull, Acto, e-Sens and Finatech here in France and particularly in the Paris region.
It's the 'go-to' market for our customers and our partners here, both for customers in France as well as in southern Europe.
Did your company receive any government support to set up your business here?
The time when the Invest in France Agency contacted us back in Silicon Valley was when we were looking to explore and open up the French region, so it was very timely from that perspective. They helped us to establish our entity in France and also introduced us to quite a few companies here that pertain to our space around big data in both the Paris and French markets.
What are your company's future plans in France?
We will continue to expand our sales and our technical organization here, as well as services, and will also look to expand our partnerships locally. Paris will be our headquarters for Southern Europe which includes Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and all the outlying countries around France.
