Qype, a venture-backed pan-European reviews site, has launched in France, reports TechCrunch France. The move follows UK and German launches which technically makes it the only local review site with a pan-Europe footprint in local language. The site should do well in France which already has among the most vociferous blogging population in Europe, so people are quite used to submitting opinions. Not to mention the legendary French penchant for conversation…
It’s not a lot of surprise that Qype launched in France. Joining their UK investor Advent Venture Partners is Paris-based Partech International. The startup launched in Germany in 2006 and in the UK in summer 2007, and covers some 6,000 towns and cities across Europe, and claims over two million unique visitors per month. Its founder is Stephan Uhrenbacher. Qype’s dedicated French team includes COO Stéphanie Delestre (formerly head of Internet and new media at Eurosport). In other hires, Qype recently hired Rob Hinchcliffe, ex-founder of the popular Londonist blog and former news editor for Yahoo UK, as community manager.
The site won’t just rely on local content – it will also be translating the best reviews across these countries. Competitors in the UK include Welovelocal, Tipped, Trustedplaces and now TouchLocal this week. As you can see there is a massive war on for the ‘trusted local reviews’ space not least amongst mobile startups as well. This year is effectively the year all these sites test their mettle.