Rakuten DX is a software company specialising in no-code development platforms to build

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...

s for smartphones, tablets and web designed for enterprises and digital publishers. Headquartered in

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. In 2018, 290,053 people l ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, Rakuten DX is a major

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a ...

Rakuten () is a Japanese technology conglomerate based in Tokyo, founded by Hiroshi Mikitani in 1997. Centered around Rakuten Ichiba, its businesses include financial services utilizing financial technology, as well as digital content and communicati ...

Sector

Rakuten DX provides mobile application tools & digital experience services for enterprises designed to support businesses in their digital transformation. With Rakuten DX software companies can build smartphone, tablet and web apps for their sales reps, investors and communications teams. Aquafadas also specialises in solutions for digital newspapers, magazines and e-text books.

Company history

The founders

Claudia Zimmer (CEO), previously an architect, and Matthieu Kopp (CTO) with a degree of engineering ( École Centrale Paris) and PhD in astrophysics. With 11 years of software development experience, they previously spent 5 years running the Application Networks startup in London and founded Aquafadas in 2006.

Headquarters

Rakuten DX headquarters are in

, France, and also has offices in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

Key dates

* 2004: Creation of the first software, iDive * 2006: Aquafadas founded as a company by Claudia Zimmer and Matthieu Kopp. PulpMotion, the second software, launches. * 2007: BannerZest – software designed to create Flash banners – enters the market. The same year Ave!Comics, book store for digital comic books owned by Aquafadas, starts to gain attention in the comic books world. * 2008: VideoPier launch * December 2008, the latest Lucky Luke comic book on iPhone goes on sale thanks to the Ave!Comics3 tools * 2009: SnapFlow launch * May 2009, creation of Ave!Comics 3 Production * 2010: BannerZest for Windows goes live. BannerZest Fun Pics Facebook app launches. Plug-in PulpFx created in partnership with Noise Industries goes live. Digital publications for

Fnac Fnac () is a large French retail chain selling culture, cultural and consumer electronics, electronic products, founded by André Essel and Max Théret in 1954. Its head office is in ''Le Flavia'' in Ivry-sur-Seine near Paris. It is an abbreviati ...

and Orange enter the market. Launch of mobile apps for: RMC Sport, La Tribune and

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wif ...

. * 2011: Partnership with Quark to make Aquafadas technology compatible with

Quark A quark () is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nuclei. All commonly ...

9 et

QPS. Adobe InDesign 4 Plugin designed for digital publishing goes live. New clients using Aquafadas tools for their digital publications: La Réunion des Musées Nationaux –

Grand Palais The Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées ( en, Great Palace of the Elysian Fields), commonly known as the Grand Palais (English: Great Palace), is a historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located at the Champs-Élysées in the 8th ...

, La Tribune,

Bayard Bayard may refer to: People *Bayard (given name) * Bayard (surname) *Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard (1473–1524) French knight Places * Bayard, Delaware, an unincorporated community * Bayard (Jacksonville), Florida, a neighborhood * Bayard ...

, and

Carlsen Carlsen is a Danish language, Danish-Norwegian language, Norwegian patronymic surname meaning "son of Carl". The form Karlsen (surname), Karlsen is cognate. The parallel Swedish language, Swedish forms are Carlsson (disambiguation), Carlsson and K ...

. * 2012: The Canadian e-reading company Kobo_Inc. acquires Aquafadas. * 2017: Aquafadas becomes a major subsidiary of the Rakuten Group, appointing Yasufumi Hirai as Chairman and Koichiro Takahara as CEO. * July 2017: Aquafadas becomes Rakuten Aquafadas as a part of corporate rebranding and integration within the Rakuten Group * November 23, 2020: Rakuten Aquafadas becomes Rakuten DX.

International presence

Partner network

Rakuten DX has an international presence with 25 partner companies across the world: * Latin America: Panama ; Mexico ; Brazil ; San Salvador ; Argentina ; Costa Rica. * North America: Canada ; USA. * EMEA : Emirates ; Kuwait ; Turkey ; France ; Spain ; Italy. * Asia : Japan (3 partners), China (3 partners), Thailand.

Kobo acquisition in 2012

With the acquisition by the Canadian e-reading company in 2012, Aquafadas became part of the Rakuten group.

Notes

{{Authority control Companies based in Languedoc-Roussillon Publishing software Software companies of France Rakuten Software companies established in 2006 French companies established in 2006 Kobo Inc.