04 Mar Fabernovel acquires the technology services agency 31Ten
Back to Insights
Fabernovel, an independent group with international operations, an expert in transformation consulting, digital services, and product development, continues its growth in the Chinese market with the acquisition of 31Ten.
This new acquisition is in line with the development strategy of the Fabernovel group in Asia, after entering the market in 2017 with the acquisition of VELVET, and opening a second office in Singapore in 2018. The technology service company 31Ten now becomes Fabernovel, with its talents, already working at Fabernovel’s Shanghai office since 2019, officially joining the group.
Clément Ledormeur, General Manager of 31Ten becomes General Manager of Fabernovel’s Technology Division in China and Vladimir Garnèle, the co-founder of 31Ten, becomes Creative Director of Fabernovel in China.
For Fabernovel, staying a step ahead of trends in this market is crucial. This is what we have done earlier by establishing our Silicon Valley operations as soon as 2007. Now more than ever, we need to strengthen our presence and expertise in China, where we have been operating for over 5 years now. Building our expertise to seek out the talent and technologies that our clients need to grow their business in this competitive market is an essential mission for us
Stéphane Distinguin, founder and CEO of Fabernovel.
Innovation at the service of companies wanting to develop in China
Totaling more than 50% of all e-commerce worldwide and with 44% of retail transactions taking place online, China became the world’s most developed market in 2020, widening the gap with the United Kingdom (27.5%), Germany (14.5%), and the United States (11.2%) according to eMarketer.
The Chinese ecosystem is a very fertile breeding ground for innovation, responding with new answers to evolving market needs, some of which are unique in the world. New online shopping practices have emerged, such as live streaming shopping, which doubled in 2020 to reach 9% of all Chinese e-commerce (according to Everbright Securities). In addition, WeChat, described in this GAFAnomics study, has invented the super-app model, deploying mini-programs as its weapon: these are applications with very specific functions, activated directly in WeChat, without any installation required on the phone. This super-app and its 1.1 billion users have led to the emergence of new marketing practices for brands around Social CRM, O2O (online to offline), and customer service.
Fabernovel is already supporting major groups that are already well established in China, including global industry leaders from cosmetics, health, luxury, and fashion industries, as well as high-potential niche brands that want to develop in this booming market.

WeChat, the cornerstone of the Chinese digital ecosystem and Fabernovel’s offers
With this new acquisition, Fabernovel completes its range of expertise in China to offer a complete value chain combining strategy, innovation, and marketing consulting with new technological, data, and design skills.
Specializing in the development of e-commerce, CRM, O2O, and retail services and applications based on the WeChat ecosystem, 31Ten has become the partner of choice of over one hundred major brands.
The strong capacity for innovation, the in-depth expertise on WeChat, and the operational technological excellence of 31Ten’s talent have confirmed our confidence in this strategic alliance. It is an agency recognized by the most demanding groups in the market, but also by Tencent, a privileged partner of the agency
Patrice Nordey, Managing Partner in charge of Strategy and International Operations at Fabernovel
“We have successfully delivered a large number of joint projects with Fabernovel for over a year now, so it was natural for us to join forces to create a broader, seamless offering combining strategy, technology, and marketing. In addition, our respective teams have been working in the same office space on a daily basis since September 2019, which allowed us to ensure the integration of the teams even before officially tying the knot. In addition, and after opening 2020 our development center in Suzhou, a city located 30 minutes from Shanghai, we can now fully rely on the hundred or so developers, designers, and data experts of the Fabernovel group to densify our offer of services for our core business in China and APAC”, underlines Clément Ledormeur, CEO of 31Ten and now General Manager of Fabernovel’s new tech team in China.
PRESS CONTACT
Joachim Martin
T. +33 6 25 59 63 23
Resources
- GAFAnomics Study: WeChat, the shape of the connected China
- Bible of the WeChat mini-programs
- Private Traffic Study
Find out more about Fabernovel’s expertise in China
- Strategy for entering the Chinese market (e-commerce, WeChat, consumers, etc.) for CEOs, Excoms, COOs and CMOs
- Training: digital academy, data academy, learning expeditions to CHROs and Head of Learning
- Marketing: Digital Marketing Solutions with creative and data teams specialized in the Chinese domestic and cross-border market, for marketing and communication departments.
- Technology: Studio tech and design developing tailor-made user interfaces and experiences around Chinese platforms such as WeChat, for e-commerce, CRM, retail, and marketing departments.
About Fabernovel
Fabernovel is an independent international group and expert in innovation support based on four pillars: Design, Culture, Technology, and Marketing.
Created in 2003 by Stéphane Distinguin, Fabernovel’s Talents are at the forefront of innovation on four continents (in Europe in Paris, Lyon, Nantes, Toulouse, Bordeaux, and Lisbon, in the United States in San Francisco, in Africa, in Casablanca and in Asia in Shanghai and Singapore).
The multidisciplinary teams, made up of developers, designers, creatives, analysts, data scientists, bring their convictions and solutions to the entire digital value chain, from the consulting phase to the realization phase of products that are useful on a daily basis, up to the marketing campaigns and the valorization of transformation strategies.
OTHER NEWS
- EY and Fabernovel join forces to accelerate the convergence of digital and ecological transitions
- Fabernovel acquires the technology services agency 31Ten
- Office opening party recap