When Doro acquired the French company Prylos in July 2011, one of the most motivating factors behind the decision was the addition of Prylos’ dynamic founder and CEO, Caroline Noublanche. Today, half a year after acquisition, the inspiring entrepreneur from Paris is a strong contributor to the ‘esprit de corps’ that exists at Doro, and says she feels as enthusiastic as ever about her work.
“This is a really great team to work with, and I am very happy to be a part of group management. I also feel proud of what we are doing at Doro, because it has a real impact on people. Adapting technology in areas like mHealth and telecare benefits society, which adds real meaning to what we do.”
Evolved with the industry
Caroline’s career has followed the evolution of the mobile telecom industry from enabler of calls to being all about applications. After graduating from HEC Paris, Europe’s top-rated business school, she went to work for the top French companies SFR and Phonevalley. In 2003, at the age of 27, she started her own company, Prylos.
“Back then applications for mobile phones were only for closed environments and for assisting technicians, drivers, field workers, etc. At Prylos we also began developing B2C applications for companies like the Yellow Pages. Later we decided to specialize in mHealth and home care.”
Prylos soon grew to 15 people and an annual turnover of more than €1,2 million. “In 2010 we knew that it would be difficult to take the company to the next level on our own,” says Caroline, “so we knew we either had to find good companies to acquire, or get bought by someone else.” At the same time, a Swedish company named Doro was riding in its own success and looking towards developing mHealth and telecare applications as part of its long-term strategy.
A great match
“I first met Jérôme (Arnaud, Doro CEO) just before the 2011 Mobile World Congress,” says Caroline. “Later at the exhibition we met again and he asked me about what the future looked like for Prylos. ‘Funny you should ask,’ I said.”
After considering a number of different avenues, Caroline and the board of Prylos decided to move forward with Doro. Today she is the business unit director for Applications and Webstore.
“My role is to define strategy for applications as well as the roadmap that will get us where we want to be. That involves building an ecosystem of partners around our ‘Doro Selection.’ I work closely with rest of the team and support our Key Account Managers in meetings with customers, which I truly enjoy.”
“Right now I am very much looking forward to the launch of our first smartphone, which will feature a collection of specially selected apps developed just for seniors.”