Fundraising Fox
Babbler
DefunctTechstars '17Paris, FR · 3 known investors
Find your way into Babbler
French media-relations platform and press office connecting brands with journalists, bloggers and influencers.
Also known as Babbler · BABBLER SAS
Investors · 3
How we know: the Techstars portfolio · open dataset · Top 3000 Accelerator Startups (no YC) 2026-08 · Not right? Tell us
Also in the syndicate · 1
Company profile
researched Sep 2026Babbler is a French company operating a B2B platform for press and media relations. It combines a press-office service with a web platform on which brands, communications teams and PR agencies distribute content — press releases, press kits, HD visuals, packshots, videos — in real time to a targeted network of journalists, editors, bloggers and influencers. Journalists follow a specialised news feed organised by topics matching their current subjects, retrieve press materials and interact directly with press officers in their sector, while advertisers receive live reporting on publication monitoring and their exchanges with journalists. A matching system applied at registration is intended to connect advertisers, PR agencies and media.
The approach is described as applying social-network logic — community, engagement and data — to media relations, in response to journalists' saturated inboxes (cited as roughly 500 press releases received per day, of which about 3% are opened). Later positioning of the company's site describes Babbler as a platform centralising press-relations tools in a single place.
The operating entity is registered as BABBLER SAS at 3 Rue Casteja, Boulogne-Billancourt (Île-de-France), under NAF code 6399Z, with a stated share capital of €20,700 and a directory-reported staff band of 2 to 10.
Founding story
Sarah Azan, a press officer who had run her own PR structure (SOCOM RP), was helped one evening by her younger sister Hannah Oiknine, who found journalists unreachable by phone and email and successfully contacted them via Twitter. Observing that journalists' inboxes were saturated, Hannah conceived a platform with a topic-based news feed that journalists could follow to pick up news when they needed it. After a six-month internship in the United States she returned to Paris, built a beta with developers in India and brought in her sister, who beta-tested it and won new clients through word of mouth; the two then co-founded the company.
Business model
B2B subscription and services model: access is free for media (journalists, bloggers, influencers), while brands and advertisers pay. Early pricing was reported at €249 to €1,000 per month, with 3-, 6- or 12-month subscription packages or à-la-carte PR services delivered by an in-house team of press officers.
Paid subscriptions from brands/advertisers plus optional à-la-carte press-relations services; media-side access free.
Traction
At the time of the April 2016 round, around 4,000 journalists and influencers (free registration) and more than 300 advertisers used the platform, with 20 employees between Paris and New York. In February 2013 the company reported 75 clients. A later account cited 22 staff in Paris and 4 in New York.
Latest developments
A French startup directory records the entity as struck off since July 2017, with the most recent BODACC movement — a deposit of a statement of claims — in May 2022. The heybabbler.com domain, created in August 2024 and registered through NETIM SAS, presents Babbler as a solution for managing press relations from a single platform.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Positioned as an innovation in press-relations management, a sector described by one investor as having seen little notable innovation in the preceding decade; presented as a press office with its own brand/media B2B social network. A French startup directory places it in the IT/web development sector, media sub-sector, collaborative web platforms, B2B model.
Founders cited exclusivity of the combination of a traditional press office with a proprietary brands/media social network, the proprietary web tool, and competitive pricing; investors cited the shift in working methods between journalists, advertisers and distributors.
Technology
Web platform (with mobile application) built around a topic-based news feed, content repositories for press materials (press releases, press kits, HD visuals, videos), live interaction between press officers and journalists, a registration-time matching system, and publication-monitoring reporting for advertisers. The heybabbler.com site is served via Cloudflare.
Go-to-market
Free registration for journalists and influencers to build the media network, with paid subscriptions sold to brands and agencies; growth supported by startup-competition visibility (Microsoft Imagine Cup), incubation and accelerator programmes, and word of mouth from early PR clients.
Brands and advertisers, communications departments and PR agencies on the paying side; journalists, editors, bloggers and influencers on the free side. Early sector focus included fashion/accessories, with stated plans to open to food and beauty.
Geography
Headquartered in the Paris region (Boulogne-Billancourt, Île-de-France), with a New York presence; at the time of the 2016 round the company had 20 employees across Paris and New York, and a later account cited 22 people in Paris and 4 in New York.
History
The project was launched in September 2012, with a directory recording company creation in 2012 (another source dates the launch of Babbler to 2013). In June 2012, before the company was incorporated, it won the European innovative-company competition organised by the Paris junior chamber of commerce. It was supported by Paris Pionnières and Essec Ventures and financed early on with a €50K raise plus a €30K Oséo-guaranteed loan. Babbler won Microsoft's Imagine Cup in 2013 and was named most innovative startup of the year by Microsoft, was selected among Challenges magazine's 100 startups to invest in, and received the Web2Day jury prize in June 2014. A €2 million round led by Omnes Capital and CM-CIC Capital Privé closed in April 2016, and the company went through the Techstars accelerator in 2017. A French directory reports total funds raised of €2.2 million and lists the company as struck off since July 2017, with a last BODACC entry in May 2022. The heybabbler.com domain was created in August 2024 and presents Babbler as a platform centralising press-relations tools.
Risks & controversies
The registered French entity is listed as struck off (radiée) since July 2017 in a startup directory, and a BODACC filing recorded in May 2022 relates to a deposit of a statement of claims.
Two differing creation/launch dates appear across sources (company creation 2012 / launch September 2012 versus a launch described as 2013), and the company is associated with two domains (babbler.fr and heybabbler.com).
Compiled by commissioned research from 7 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 10
launches, deals, and filingsA French startup directory records BABBLER SAS as struck off since July 2017; the last BODACC movement listed is a deposit of a statement of claims in May 2022.
At the time of the 2016 round the company had 20 employees based between Paris and New York and planned further business development in France and the United States.
Babbler closed a €2 million fundraising round led jointly by Omnes Capital and CM-CIC Capital Privé, to continue product development and business development in France and the United States.
Selected in Challenges magazine's list of the top 100 startups to invest in (2014 promotion).
Reported early financing consisting of a €50,000 fundraising plus a €30,000 Oséo-guaranteed loan, alongside support from Paris Pionnières and Essec Ventures.
Babbler won Microsoft's Imagine Cup and was named most innovative startup of the year by Microsoft.
Babbler launched as a press office paired with its own B2B social network linking brands and media (journalists, bloggers, influencers).
Won the European innovative enterprise competition organised by the Paris junior chamber of commerce, before the company was incorporated.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 7
primary sources listed
- heybabbler.com at WI. Babbler - Centralisez l’ensemble de vos outils sur une seulewebsite.informer.com · web
7 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Babbler do?
- French media-relations platform and press office connecting brands with journalists, bloggers and influencers.
- Who are Babbler's investors?
- Babbler's investors include Techstars, Omnes Capital.
- Where is Babbler headquartered?
- Babbler is headquartered in Paris, FR.