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← All autopsies·France·Media
// startup autopsy

Dailymotion

France's YouTube. YouTube arrived. Vivendi owns the ruins.

competition
Founded2005
Closed2018
CountryFrance
SectorMedia
Raised$168M
FounderBenjamin Bejbaum

// the model, blind

Evaluating only Dailymotion’s profile at its peak — without knowing the outcome — the model ranked Acquisition gone wrong as the #1 likely cause. Documented cause: Competition.

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Documented cause

Dailymotion was France's leading video platform, reaching 300M monthly visitors. Despite multiple acquisition attempts (Microsoft at $300M in 2011 was blocked by the French government under strategic asset protection), Dailymotion was sold to Orange (French telco) in 2013 and then Vivendi in 2015. YouTube's global scale, creator monetization, and algorithmic recommendation made Dailymotion irrelevant. By 2018 it had lost all meaningful market share.

Lesson

“Government strategic asset protection can trap a company in a smaller market with insufficient capital to compete globally. Dailymotion needed Microsoft's distribution. Without it, being French didn't help it compete with being Google.”

FAQ

Why did Dailymotion fail?

Dailymotion, France's YouTube with 300M monthly visitors, lost all meaningful market share to YouTube by 2018. A key factor was the French government blocking Microsoft's $300M acquisition in 2011, preventing Dailymotion from accessing the capital and distribution needed to compete with YouTube globally.

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5,032 documented autopsies · 85.9% Top-3 cause match. How we measure accuracy →

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// INVESTORS THAT BACKED DAILYMOTION
Atlas Venture↗
VC
Serie A · Undisclosed
IDInvest Partners
VC
Undisclosed · Serie B
Partech Ventures
VC
Undisclosed · Serie C
Advent Venture Partners
VC
Undisclosed · Serie B
Fonds Stratégique d'Investissement
VC
Undisclosed · Serie C