After rating washing machines, the Ecological Barometer HopScore evolves to assess the environmental quality of new product categories. HopScore now tackling other types of electrical appliances.

6 New categories of electrical products “HopScored”

The service HopScore, launched in September 2009, estimated only washing machines according to their environmental qualities. Since February, 1st 2010, HopScore grades 6 other products’ categories, always in the family of home appliances:

• Laundry drying
• Dryer
• Dishwasher
• Wine Cellar
• Refrigerator and combined
• Freezer

Evolution of the HopScore  rating methodology

With these new categories come a new methodology of calculating the HopScore. The document HopScore Methodology has evolved to its version 1.2.

This new methodology have been incorporated in the same spirit as the previous one: give the consumer fair and environmental information tailored to their needs.

The criterias considered for the calculation of HopScore for each product are the energy and water consumption (if applicable). These raw data are weighted according to the capacity of each device.

You will always find the latest version of the Methodology HopScore here (fr).

For more information about the methodology, please feel free to ask questions at methodologie@hopscore.com.

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Thanks to the Innovact Investors Summit, entrepreneurs, Hop-Cube participated in the EVC (European Venture Contest) by presenting Hop-Cube in front of a jury of 10 investors and experieced entrepreneurs.

EVC is a competition held in 7 cities in Europe. At each session, about 25 entrepreneurs pitch their project: 8 minutes and a few slides to convince a jury of experts. The final will be held next December in Barcelona and will decide between the 100 best European entrepreneurs. Following this final, the “elected” comapny will leave with a check for 90 000 €; a real shot to boost his project!

A pitching in English brilliantly realized by Thomas since Hop-Cube Project convinced the jury: Hop-Cube will be among the 70 companies invited to the final in Barcelona! [

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As we fisrt announced a few days ago, the HopScore service activation on our clients‘ websites has generated a first bunch of statistics which are very encouraging for the future of our business. I let you discover the following:

You therefore understand our enthusiasm when we first discovered these feedbacks! Interaction with the HopScore implies an increase of conversion rate by 30% and multiply by 3 the visit duration on the site!

These indications confirm our feeling: the Internet users are looking for environmental information (click rate on HopScore reach nearly 6%!) And this information pushes them to buy.

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This brief post to announce the publication of Hop¹⁰ by Hop-Cube !

What is the Hop¹⁰? It is simply the top 10 of the most eco-aware products in their class.

The first publication concerns the washing machines family (under 6kg). You can now find our new portal http://www.hopscore.com (in beta at the moment …). The methodology used to compile this list is available here.

HopScore.com welcomes today Hop¹⁰ rankings, but it is bound to change soon to become a public portal whose goal is to always deliver more environmental information to consumers.

This information is relayed by the famous online newspaper called l’Express.fr.

We are eager for your feedback / comments / suggestions / criticisms, please let us know below and we will take them into account in the next release!

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Scientipôle-Initiative is an organization helping start-ups by providing entrepreneurs with unsecured loans without collateral needed! Up to 20 000 € per associate filling a loan application, this amount of money is often required to access other state subsidies (OSEO and others).

But beyond the financial aspect, Scientipôle is a serious pledge of our project. Indeed, it was after many months of coaching by experts in their domains (a little nod to Violette Watine from MademoiselleBio and Arnaud Pelloquin, Charge d’Affaires at Scientipôle-Initiative) a project may be presented to a committee for awarding loans.

Until the project is not considered “acceptable” by the experts, the company cannot do a try with the jury.

You’ll understand that we are rather proud to have received the approvment from the Scientipôle’s board which strengthens our confidence in the success of our initiative!

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It is a small revolution in the history of Hop-Cube, as we welcome our first collaborator in our team!

We are glad to welcome Capucine Surrel, who worked for fifteen years in new technologies and Internet services olding commercial manager position.

Indeed, Capucine has previously played several top-flight roles: Director & co-founder of “La Souris Verte” (service pioneer in Internet at schools) in 1997, Associate Director of the BU Internet at Itras until 2000, then founded CAPTEO in 2002, and sold it in 2005 while she followed an Executive MBA from HEC.

Then, she joined the CMS software and e-commerce editor Wedia in 2006 as Business Manager and helped to position the company No. 1 in its sector.

In late 2008, she became Director of the French market of the British start-up REEVOO.com seeking to locate in France, and successfully completed the launch of this new actor in marketing services dedicated to e-tailers.

In late 2009 we meet Capucine which quickly stick to our project. She found a great potential and decided to join our team last December.

As Associate Sales Director, Capucine implements the business strategy of Hop-Cube and handles customer relationship and partnership. So if one day you are interested in our services, you will surely be pleased to meet her!

Here  are few words from Capucine:

“I am delighted to join Hop-Cube. By the the sustainable essence of this project, its e-commerce position and  the excellence of the current team guarantee a development that I guess to be exceptional.

I  come to bring my experience to this young and competent team to transform the test and give Hop-Cube sales force that was lacking before. Hop-Cube has all the attributes to succeed, let’s make it now! “

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This is an opportunity for us to make a point on the progression of Hop-Cube in the last months. After 8 months of existence, Hop-Cube already offers its service of ecological scoring on products called HopScore to two e-tailers.

Initially offered only for the ‘washing machine’ category , HopScore can now assess the environmental impact of more than 40 000 models of products across the categories of the home appliance family! A rapid development, therefore a service that keeps its promises.

We will show you in few days the first measurements on the HopScore badge.

For the moment we would have only one word to describe our observations: impressive! Soon on hop-cube.com, complete statistics of our service!

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The program was composed of the sessions intitled “Web development on the Microsoft platform: ASP. NET MVC, Microsoft Ajax Library and Silverlight ” by Scott Guthrie, Corporate Vice President at Microsoft Corp. in the .NET Developer Division, and “Cloud Computing & Window Azure: feedback and opportunities for software entrepreneurs” by Joannes Vermorel, CEO of Lokad.

All of those sessions were followed by a very nice cocktail!

We warmly thanks the team managing the BizSpark program in France for this cool initiative, a great opportunity to create synergies between entrepreuneurs!

Some (blurry?) images of the conference room:

The BizSpark Camp was followed by the famous Open Coffee Party entitled “Life is Better On” in reference to the service enabling unified communciation on mobile offered by Orange.

“A nice time with cool people connected to the websphere” is just the definition of the Open Coffee Party, which took place in a foretaste of the Le Web 09 Conference which opened today! Hop-Cube obviously needed to be present.

Results: many disinterested networking with full of interesting people!

Can’t wait for the next event of that kind !

Crédits : Richard Ying

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In a study published this year by Ernst & Young entitled “Assessing the performance of the top 15 online market places in France,” the audit firm provides development trends of large e-commerce sites in France.

Thus, we learn (but we already knew at Hop-Cube …) that the “Web ecolo-conscious and united” is “Trendy”

“The sites do not stop the sale, they move to vector of environmental communication and solidarity. Any buyer or visitor is concerned”

And the paper ends by highlighting the “surge of Green and united-typed communications” on e-commerce sites.

By offering the HopScore service, Hop-Cube not only has a “cute” project, we also meet a need that is becoming increasingly urgent over the Internet: information on the environmental quality of the products in catalogs of e-tailers.

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EFREI is the engineering school in computer sciences where the three founders of Hop-Cube studied.

Each year, the Cedre (Entrepreneurs, Directors and Repreneurs Club) provide a distinction targeting the students of the graduating promotion of EFREI that fits the best with the spirit of entrepreneurship.
This year, Cedre has chosen to reward Adrien, Thomas and Romain, the three co-founders of Hop-Cube, for their minds in a straight line with the values of the entrepreneur.

It is with an undisguised pleasure that we welcomed that good piece of news.
We would like to thank the members of the Cedre to trust us in getting us this distinction.

Let’s mention that there were two other nominees for this award, also graduates EFREI:

• Adrien Touati and its completed journey of success: first he produced FreeGo software that allows Free’s subscribers (Internet Access Provider) to manage their subscription, then a parental control application ‘FreeAngel’ coupled with the search engine ‘BabyGo’ (award-winner at the Petit Poucet competition last year).
• Felix Sportelli, founder of Matelli, a company offering consulting and training on a variety of subjects (now composed of 8 employees).

Crédits photo : Efrei Picture Studio

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