Hello,

The whole Plume Team wishes you a fantastic new year. We hope you enjoyed the Christmas season in the best possible atmosphere, with joy, happiness… and fresh air.

We’re grateful for your continued support. Thank you for helping us fight air pollution around the world in 2015. Our movement became truly global this year, and we now track air quality in more than 250 cities and 40 countries, in large part thank to you.

Wondering what the Plume Team has been up to lately? Check out our highlights from 2015!

#January : Grand Finalist of European ‘Apps4EU’ contest
Our team started 2015 by joining the Grand Finale of Apps4EU, a European contest rewarding the best open data apps. Tried and tested at the event in Manchester : delicious Raspberry Pi(e)s!

#February : Hackathon on “Open Data vs Pollution”
Open Data Day was on February, 21st. On this occasion, Plume Labs co-organized a hackathon on “Open Data vs Pollution” at la Paillasse, a space dedicated to biohacking in Paris. Open data activists, enthusiasts and startups gathered for this global day of action, coding, scraping and hacking to celebrate the power of Open Data — for a cleaner and more sustainable world.

#March : Raising the alarm on an exceptional pollution peak in Paris
Last March, Plume Labs helped raise awareness of the high pollution peaks in Paris and northern Europe. We showed Paris was more polluted than usual chart toppers such as Beijing or Shanghai. The following political debate led the French decide to pull half of the cars from the road in an attempt to curb particulate matter levels, and we got featured in more than 300 articles in the French and international press!

#April : ‘Innovators Under 35 France’ award from MIT
Romain Lacombe, co-founder of Plume Labs, received an ‘Innovators Under 35’ award from MIT’s Technology Review, recognizing the global impact and potential of Plume’s technology. This distinction gave the team added incentive to bring down pollution and empowering citizens all over the world.

#May : Launching the Plume Air Report
In May 2015, we launched the Plume Air Report, a web app tracking real-time pollution levels in major cities around the world. Since then, the app reached 120,000 users who now know when it’s safe to run, bike, go out with their children or eat outside in their cities. 😉

#June : Getting citizens involved to collect air quality data in Paris
On June 11-14, Plume Labs joined Futur en Seine, the major digital festival in France. There, we deployed the first prototype of our sensors and crowd-sensing platform that enabled visitors to crowdsource a live map of air pollution in Paris’ tech neighborhood a.k.a “Silicon Sentier”.

#July : French Tech’s Digital Thursday
Plume Labs joined French Tech’s Digital Thursday, a monthly event organized by Axelle Lemaire – French Minister of State for the Digital Sector – which brings together French start-ups, policymakers and investors. The July edition took place at the Environmental Ministry of France, with a strong focus on cleantech innovations.

#August : Cat day at the office
We considered the middle of the summer a fantastic opportunity to invite Plume Labs’ cat mascot Jaja at the office. Our beloved Bengal rockstar gave his first press conference. Cuteness records were smashed. Meow. Stay tuned! Jaja and us have big things planned to make our cities breathable again.

#September : Launching the Plume Air Report for Android
The biggest event for us this fall was the launch of the Plume Air Report in 20 countries, both on Android and iOS. It got extensive media coverage – especially in North America. Our app was mentioned in Techcrunch…seriously, how cool is that? This was a crucial step for us, leading the path to acquisition of new users.

#October : London Calling @Google Campus
We brought together some of the best of Urban Tech startups at Google Campus in London. Entrepreneurs from across Europe showcased positive solutions against air pollution. Uh, and we also made the Plume Air Report available on the Apple Watch!

#November : Winner of the CleanTech Open France
Plume Labs was honored won the ‪CleanTech‬Open France competition. We were also selected as one of the 21 companies representing French cleantech startups at the ‪COP21‬ UN Summit on climate change.

#December : French Tech’s Ambassador at COP21
December 2015 was highlighted by COP21, potentially the most decisive climate conference in 25 years. Our contribution to ‪the Environmental Summit ? A worldwide air pollution map, available online in real-time.

Now, let’s jump together into 2016!

From Paris with Love,

– Team Plume