Part of the YCombinator class of 2006, Xobni only recently launched its first non-English language version in German after partnering with the German Linkedin, Xing. Yet, given the high number of French users, the company has decided to make France it’s 2nd international market and is rolling-out the French version of its product today. But still, don’t try spelling the French word for email inbox (boîte de réception) backwards – you’re likely to get a word way uglier than Xobni.
Xobni’s solution, which aims at facilitating search and management of contacts within Outlook and on the Blackberry, will definitely face a bit of competition in the French market – especially from Silentale’s personal CRM, which has also been called “the Dropbox of communications.” This new French version of Xobni will enable Francophone users to benefit from an entirely French system – for everything other than the connections to social networks.
Since the launch of the product in 2008, over half of the 5 million downloads have come from outside of the US. Yet prior to Xobni’s internationalization, the company launched Xobni Enterprise in November of last year to make deployment of its product easier for companies. Now the enterprise version as well as the free and Plus versions of Xobni will all be available in Molière’s language.
The company closed a last round of funding of $16.2 million in April, with Khosla Ventures and RRE Ventures – only a few months prior to the departure of one of the company’s co-founders, Matt Brezina, in August.
Whatever you do, just don’t go spelling the French word for inbox (boîte de réception) backwards.
