New screen and new start for VisioPM in Marseille

VisioPM is entering the –still nascent– market of the autostereoscopic 3D screen, a vector of communication that has extensive fields of application in every domain. The aircraft, real-estate and luxury sectors already have become interested in the technology due to the prestige factor in viewing 3D images without the need for glasses. Seeing objects jump out of the screen at you is quite breathtaking! After three years' research and development in Toulouse, birthplace of the company founded in 2014, its director Thierry Sitbon has just announced that the 3D signage software is about to go on sale. In August 2017, the fast-growing company will be moving its head office to Marseille, where it has found financial backers and a favourable ecosystem in the digital, multimedia and connected objects sector. His contacts with the Provence Promotion teams was a deciding factor in the choice of Marseille as his new home port.

Using VisioPM, the screen comes alive! Over the past three years, the Toulouse-based company has developed a technology that allows 3D images to be viewed without special glasses. The (extremely complex) technology was previously reserved for very specific fields such as telemedicine. "In the course of my career, I've worked in the digital signage business and, being aware of glasses-free 3D screens, I thought it perfectly obvious to bring the two fields together to open up this technology to the general public and use it as a new communication tool," explains Thierry Sitbon. However, the director of the Toulouse-based rising star, which already has a cabinet full of innovation trophies, was having trouble finding financing in a city in which everything revolves around the aerospace industry. "It is impossible to raise funds in Toulouse if you are not in the aerospace sector," notes Sitbon.

"Marseille was extremely reactive. In only five months, I had completed the round of fund-raising"

During the French Tech Weeks, he took part in the 2016 edition of the Financial IT Days, a forum for innovating companies at Marseille's Belle de Mai Media Park. Provence Promotion introduced him to Provençal and French business angels and to the support schemes made available by the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Regional Council. "Marseille was extremely reactive. In only five months, I had completed the round of fund-raising with Arts et Métiers Business Angels and had submitted an application to PACA Emergence. Marseille, European Capital of Culture, has built its reputation as a filming location around the flagship soap Plus Belle La Vie and on the multimedia skills available here," points out Thierry Sitbon. When asked about the role played by Provence Promotion, he sums up the economic development agency's contribution in a few words that say it all: "Thanks to their assistance, I was able to successfully open up my company's capital. The team were incredibly motivated," says the company executive, who admits having hesitated among London, Luxembourg and even the United States.

Located at Château-Gombert's Hôtel Technoptic just outside the city centre, VisioPM employs five staff and expects to recruit another 10 to 15 by the end of 2017. "We are going to increase our technical and sales staff numbers and considerably strengthen our R&D," declares Sitbon.

Cassia3D, VisioPM's solution, based on a software suite, screens with a 3D controller and a server, turns out to be an amazing marketing and communication tool. "Our initial canvassing was very successful with luxury-sector companies such as LVMH and industrial groups including –ironically enough- Airbus," adds Thierry Sitbon. But mum's the word… VisioPM isn't giving away any more details. Be sure not to miss them at the Heavent show in Paris in November, 2017.