Romain Afflelou
Ceo of Cosmo Connected
United Kingdom
Overview
Work Experience
CEO
2015 - Current
Cosmo Connected has developed a unique technology, combining hardware and software, which ensures visibility and security for the urban commuter in mobility. Our product ecosystem includes smart lights, augmented visualization systems and a set of connected services accessible from our application. In addition, Cosmo Connected makes its know-how available to micro-mobility players by integrating its technologies at the heart of personal mobility devices. Our goal is to become the leader in connected safety in urban mobility, and to develop connected products and services to meet everyone's needs. Our vision is to put our technology at the service of the greatest number and to contribute to making roads safer while promoting the use of soft mobility commuter in mobility. Cosmo Connected aims to become the leader in connected safety in urban mobility, and to develop connected products and services that adapt to everyone's needs.
Co-founder
2016
More than just a platform, Yaday offers a model of investment and strategic acceleration, leveraging the power of collective collaboration to sustainably support startups, investors, and large corporations in France and abroad. - + 300 startups - 120 direct participation (70% in Europe, 20% in the US and 10% in Israel) - 15 funds We have launched Club Yaday, which already brings together nearly 200 members, including business angels and family offices, spread across Europe, the UK, the Middle East, and the United States, among others. Yaday invites all business angels and family offices to join its investors’ club: https://tally.so/r/nGDLao For start-up decks: https://tally.so/r/nrPWvL
Tech advisor
2024
Romain Afflelou, focusing on innovative solutions to enhance road safety and protect drivers and users in the event of accidents. In a world where road accidents pose a significant threat to public safety, Yannick Alléno and Romain Afflelou have joined forces through the Antoine Alléno Foundation to develop pioneering solutions that prioritize accident prevention, minimize impact, and safeguard individuals, regardless of their mode of transport. Prevention is essential for young people aged 14 to 24, an age group over-represented in mortality statistics, but one that is relatively unfamiliar with the risks associated with mobility. At the age when they are "going mobile", whatever their mode of locomotion, to gain greater independence, young people are often unaware of what is at stake in terms of risks to their lives and those of others. The mobility landscape is changing fast (more and more EPDMs, micro-cars accessible from the age of 14, lower driving license age, increased distraction through the use of smartphones, etc.). This is a high-priority area for action! To meet this challenge, we are organizing IMPACT, a public event which will be held during the 9th edition of Viva Technology in Paris in June 2025. The aim of IMPACT is to help educate users about the risks associated with mobility and to lower the number of young people who die on the roads each year. An exhibition area will be dedicated to cutting-edge technological solutions where all the players, from startups to the biggest corporations, will be able to discuss, demonstrate and share their innovations, with the sole aim of advancing technology to reduce the number of deaths on the roads as quickly as possible. It is against this backdrop that the Antoine Alléno Association is inviting applications from any startup capable of providing any form of solution that either avoids an accident, limits the impact of a collision or encourages more responsible driving behaviour.
Seed Investor
2021
Shares is creating a whole new investing app category where anyone, including new investors can start conversations, network and learn from friends and experts as a community – together in a one-stop shop with all their portfolio management needs. Shares aims to be a market-leading app with low barriers to entry, including access to invest from £1.00/around €1.1 – and no trade fees – across 1,500 US stocks. The Shares app will truly democratise investing with a serious finance platform that inspires confidence for any user to build their own successful portfolio. Designed to be social-first, Shares combines the functionality of a consumer investment app with the wisdom of online forums, where members can buy stocks, react to the market in real-time, start conversations with friends and access curated expert advice in one place. In addition to the Invest platform, Shares enables community and private Chat to network, learn, track friends and grow individual portfolios (as well as make Group stock indexes with Friends) from the app. Additionally, Shares’ curated market intelligence feed, Spotlight, allows Shares members to build their financial awareness and educate themselves about investing, the biggest industry trends and offer supportive guides on tax, regulation and compliance.
Investor
2021
Sorare has built a fantasty football (soccer) platform based on NFTs, or non-fungible tokens. Each digital card is registered as a unique token on the Ethereum blockchain. Players can buy and sell cards from other players. Transactions are all recorded on the Ethereum blockchain. What makes Sorare unique is that it has partnered with 180 football organizations, including some of the most famous clubs in Europe, such as Real Madrid, Liverpool and Juventus. It creates a barrier to entry for other companies in the space.
Investor
2016
Spendesk is an all-in-one corporate expense and spend management service. It lets you track expenses across your company, empower your employees with a clear approval process and simplify your bookkeeping. The service essentially works like Revolut or N26, but for corporate needs. After you sign up, you get your own Spendesk account with an IBAN. You can top up that account and define different sets of policies.
Private Investor
2020
Lydia is a P2P payment startup enabling users to get accounts, payment cards, loans, insurance, and gift cards. Lydia has extended its Series B round. Accel is leading the extension with all major existing shareholders also participating. Lydia first raised $45 million in January 2020 — Tencent led that investment. The startup is now raising another $86 million, which means that Lydia has raised $131 million in total as part of its Series B round. “Lydia isn’t a payment technology, it’s just a new payment processor like PayPal,” co-founder and CEO Cyril Chiche told me in a phone interview. “We use existing payment technologies, and, in particular, debit cards.” Sending and receiving money is absolutely free. First, you choose the payment card that you want to use. Then you enter the amount and your passcode. After that, you can send a payment notification via email or text message. And it’s done. All your friend has to do is open the app to accept the payment. Alternatively, after entering the amount, you can ask your friend to scan a QR code with the Lydia app to receive the payment immediately. If you don’t want to keep any money in the app, you can withdraw it to your bank account — it’s free. Lydia doesn’t have any incentive to keep your money because it can’t make the money work due to regulations.
Investor
2017
La start-up française Luko personnalise son offre dès votre première connexion sur son site Internet. Il vous suffit d’indiquer votre adresse, et grâce aux images satellite et à leur analyse par intelligence artificielle, cette technologie peut déterminer l’âge de votre maison, l’inclinaison du toit, la présence d’arbres potentiellement dangereux à proximité, les risques liés à la piscine, etc. Un rapport des risques lié à votre habitation vous est fourni, il peut être d’ordre architectural, industriel ou climatique.
Investor
2017
Founded in January 2017 by Adrien Roose and Karim Slaoui, who both previously co-founded Take Eat Easy (an early Deliveroo competitor), and Tanguy Goretti, who previously co-founded ridesharing startup Djump, Cowboy set out to build and sell direct a better designed e-bike. This included making the Cowboy bike lighter in weight and more stylish than models from incumbents, and adding automatic motor assistance. The latter utilizes built-in sensor technology that measures speed and torque, and adjusts to pedaling style and force to deliver an added boost of motor-assisted speed at key moments, e.g. when you start pedaling, accelerate or go uphill. In addition, Cowboy’s “smart” features powered by the Cowboy app enables the device to be switched on and off, track location, provide “ride stats” and support remote troubleshooting and software updates. A theft detection feature is also promised soon.
Investor
2021
Aircall has raised a $120 million Series D round led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Following today’s funding round, the company has reached unicorn status, which means it has a valuation above $1 billion — this is the 16th French unicorn. The startup has been building a cloud-based phone system for call centers, support lines and sales teams. It integrates with Salesforce, HubSpot, Zendesk, Slack, Intercom and other popular CRM, support and communication systems. Aircall customers can create local numbers and set up an interactive voice response directory. The service manages the call queue for you and your agents can start answering inbound calls. Agents can transfer calls and put customers on hold. Admins can see analytics, monitor calls and see how everyone is doing.
Aircall is a cloud-based call center software that integrates with CRM, productivity, and helpdesk tools.
Raised $237,550,000.00 from eFounders, NextWorld Capital, 8i Ventures, DTCP, Molten Ventures, Swisscom Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Adams Street Partners and NextWorld Capital.