Maxime and Bastien, class of 2014, co-founders of COBBER, a start-up company via Pepite PON incubator

COBBER is an online sports community that enables you to find players in your neighborhood and plan activities with other members. The site was launched in May 2014 via the incubator at Pôle Universitaire Léonard de Vinci, START-UP PEPITE PON.

An interview with Julie LAU, Marie-Aude RENAULT, Céline BEN HADDOU and Yuna HAIKEL, students majoring in “Digital Marketing Strategy“.

Maxime LANG : I chose to pursue a degree at the EMLV; I first met Bastien during my first year of studies and we went on to spend 5 years in the same class. During 4^th year, I specialized in marketing ‘services and solutions’. Sharing a passion for the web, we decided to major in E-business in 5^th year which is now called ‘Digital Marketing Strategy’ where we well trained in the field of digital media thanks to a team of reputed professionals.

Bastien Leroy : Upon entering higher education, I spent one year studying law at the University of Paris 2. The following year, I decided to switch to a business-orientated field and so applied to enroll at the EMLV. Like Maxime, I studied at the Pôle for 5 years. In my 4th year, I specialized in ‘solutions and services’ and in 5th year, I majored in E-business. It was in our final year that Maxime and I decided to embark on the Cobber project!

Entrepreneurship

Maxime : My desire to be an entrepreneur is nothing new! I have always possessed an entrepreneurial drive and I’ve enjoyed being involved in a startup. From the beginning of 5^th year, we were talking about launching a website. Today, my dream is becoming a reality as we have launched our first online service (www.cobber.fr) and I’m currently working on a second project.

Bastien : I decided to embark on an entrepreneurial project with Maxime because I wanted to have responsibilities and the fact that I could work in several areas with a friend from school was even better! Creating a company straight after graduation is challenging – we continue to push ourselves to drive things forward every day.

The idea

Maxime LANG : It’s the result of a simple observation. Being a big sports fan, football in particular, I wanted to set up a sports-related website and we noticed that there was not yet a sports community website that truly catered to the needs of sports men and women.

So we decided to create Cobber. We think that sport should be accessible to all, whether you’re a beginner, competition athlete, or a person with reduced mobility. The latter were often left out on most sport community websites.

Bastien LEROY : The aim of the website is to find players in your area that match different criteria (sport, place, level, age). The site is ideal for people who have just moved to a new neighborhood and wish to meet people who play their sport. The site is completely free; members can organize sports activities and also get the latest updates about sports events in France. Internet users can also participate in discussions and communicate on different forums of the site.

The incubator

Maxime LANG : We had to present our project to a jury by explaining our concept before we were selected to take part in the incubator Start UP PEPITE PON. This provided us with space and resources as well as professional expertise by an experienced tutor who consulted us.

Bastien LEROY : As a result, we wanted to expand our community and offer more services such as reserving rooms and activities with sports clubs. We also wanted to set up a community in Belgium to broaden our market. It was our aim to make Cobber the online benchmark for practicing sports.

The message

Maxime LANG : You need to believe in your idea and never give up when you hit a rough patch! The incubator is a great opportunity for you to make your project become a reality while minimalizing the costs – so take advantage of it! Without this incubator, we would never have been able to see this journey through. You’re young; don’t be afraid to take risks. It’s like they say: ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained!’

http://www.cobber.fr/

https://www.facebook.com/cobberofficiel

https://twitter.com/CobberOfficiel

https://plus.google.com/+CobberFr-r%C3%A9servation-activit%C3%A9s-sportives/posts