© Coyote
If you were used to traveling the roads in the early 2000s, you couldn't have missed Coyote. Launched in 2005, the community alert system quickly established itself as a reference, becoming a leader in services of its kind. But faced with the arrival of free solutions like Waze, the French start-up had to adapt. And she does it very beautifully. As proof, historical customers (Coyote has 5 million users to date, the majority of whom are premium customers) continue to trust it.
Stéphane Curtelin, marketing director of Coyote (ex-Sony then Huawei), nevertheless admits that “ for a time, Waze slowed down the adoption of Coyote». But the French start-up was able to react very quickly. Thanks to its teams in Suresnes and Bordeaux (today 300 people including more than 100 developers), the company, which masters both hardware and software, announced 135 million euros of turnover in 2022. And to return to growth after a somewhat sluggish period.
« Avoid the fault »
Subscribe to Lemon Squeezer
To distinguish itself from Waze and others, Coyote aims to be more than a simple alert service, even if that remains in its DNA. The idea of the company, beyond signaling control and danger zones, is to « liberate the driver's mind on a daily basis »< /em> explains Stéphane Curtelin. Coyote aims to be the “solution to avoid careless mistakes”.
A proposition that makes sense. In France, despite the democratization of Waze, there are still 14 million vehicles flashed for 760 million euros. “ On certain sections of road, you can count 17 speed changes over just 7 km” explains the company's marketing director.
Coyote's added value is therefore its famous “beep-beep” soundwhich warns the driver of a control or danger zone, while not taking their eyes off the road. The developers have also revised the application interface so that the alert is more visible and more precise for those who cannot help but check their screen for a few tenths of a second.
Of course, the service is paid (14 euros per month maximum with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay) unlike Waze. But it quickly pays for itself, a speeding fine costing 135 euros (almost a year's subscription).
Coyote insists: “The idea is not to encourage drivers to drive faster but to protect them from carelessness”. Furthermore, the company is not intended to compete with Waze. Its figures demonstrate it: the followers of the two services do not have the same profiles.
If Waze is relevant for occasional drivers, Coyote addresses an audience of regular drivers: French people who take their car morning and evening for commuting (65% French people live in peri-urban areas), heavy riders and road professionals. “ There is room for everyone ” assures Stéphane Curtelin, a fine player.
Focus on security
Faced with increasing competition, Coyote had the good idea to develop new activities. Always with the aim of making life easier for drivers, the start-up launched Coyote Secure in 2018, a stolen vehicle recovery service. “In France there is a flight every 4 minutes and the figures are increasing by 9% after a decade of decline” explains Stéphane Curtelin.
The principle of Coyote Secure is simple: a box – available on the official website or at one of the 1,000 partner dealers – is installed in the vehicle by the dealer or Carglass, Coyote's partner. This tracker emits multiple signals (GPS, Seafox and Lora) for precise location of the vehicle. Once declared stolen, a track mode is triggered to access the location.
Detectives, employees of Coyote (from law enforcement or security professions). security) then seek to find the vehicle directly on the ground. The detective is equipped with a short-wave box to spot the vehicle in the last few meters.
According to Coyote, 91% of vehicles are found in 48 hours thanks to this system and in 93% of cases in good condition, 9 vehicles out of 10 being stolen by electronic means.
To date, Coyote Secure has convinced 400,000 users, without communication from the company… for the moment. Coyote intends to rely on its partners, the insurers Axa, Covea and Generali to recommend or even make Coyote Secure compulsory in their insurance contracts.
The start-up intends to push this offer throughout 2024 with several objectives: to consolidate its dynamic in France but also to develop neighboring countries and Europe. Among Coyote enthusiasts, Belgium, Italy and Spain are at the top. And the United States, a country of heavy rollers ? « It's not planned for the moment, we're going step by step » concludes Stéphane Curtelin.
📍 To not miss any news from Presse-citron, follow us on Google News and WhatsApp.