Eliane Fiolet is the co-founder and editor of Ubergizmo.com, a leading technology news site that features product reviews and coverage of all topics related to new gadgets, computing devices, technology breakthroughs and home entertainment products.

Early career

Originally, Eliane began her career as a graphic designer. Upon graduating with a Master’s degree in visual communication and design from the “Art Decoratifs” college in Strasbourg, she started working for several well-known agencies, such as Trois Quarts Face and Atelier François Miehe et Cie, contributing to the creation of visual identities for several cultural institutions.

She then turned towards video games for Cryo Interactive Entertainment, in particular to work on the educational game Versailles 1685, which sold over half a million copies worldwide, and ranked among the best-selling games in France in 1996, alongside Tomb Raider and Myst.

In 1998, after 3 years with Cryo Interactive Entertainment, she decided to change her professional direction once more and became Senior Designer for Minale Tattersfield Design Strategy, an agency specialized in visual identities and strategic design consulting for big groups such as Eurostar, Sephora, Caisse d’Epargne, Banque Bruxelles Lambert, and others. Minale Tattersfield Design Strategy, which was renamed Minale Design Strategy in 2000, has been rated among the world’s top ten corporate identity agencies.

Exploring new territory in Silicon Valley

During the famous internet bubble, Eliane moved to Silicon Valley, California. Initially arriving as a tourist, she quickly found a position as the Creative Director of Design Matters, a company developing web-based applications in San Carlos. For almost two years she created the user experience and graphic design for multiple applications (e-commerce, publication platform, intranet, and others) and websites for a variety of clients, from start-ups to big groups, such as 3Com, Airgas and Robert Mondavi. The bust of the internet bubble in 2001 prompted her to return to France in 2002 to lead design projects on a freelance basis.

Creation and development of Übergizmo

In 2004, after having obtained her Green Card for permanent residence in the United States, Eliane Fiolet returned to California indefinitely. This time she found herself in Palo Alto, where she founded Übergizmo together with Hubert Nguyen, graphics engineer at NVIDIA.

Interested in innovation and new electronic devices, these two entrepreneurs used to eagerly read the new “gadget blogs” Gizmodo and Engadget, which have since become their competitors. They decided that they could write about the same subjects from a slightly different angle, because unlike these new kinds of publications they enjoyed reading, Übergizmo would be published directly through the technology industry and not through the press.

At the end of September 2004, the English version of Übergizmo was created online; the French version followed in January 2005. Today, Übergizmo is published in English, French and Spanish and read in over 200 countries.

In June 2005, Eliane created Übergizmo LLC (Limited Liability Company) to operate the business, of which she and her partner each own 50% of the shares. During the summer of 2007 it became obvious that Übergizmo, which had built a consistent following, required full-time attention. Eliane stopped her freelance activities, Hubert quit NVIDIA and Übergizmo’s headquarters were established in San Francisco.

Since then, the site’s readership has continuously increased, having thus turned Eliane and Hubert into online publishing professionals, together with an internationally-based team. Originally a “hobby website”, Übergizmo is now a news site dedicated to consumer electronics and emerging technologies that is well-respected and established among both its peers and audience, thanks to its neutral and informative editorial policy and product tests.

Übergizmo has received an Honorary Webby Award and has been mentioned in many of the biggest international media outlets (Wall Street Journal, Venture Beat, BBC, Le Monde, Europe 1, France Info, Stern and USA Today, to name a few). Its founders were included among the 50 French citizens who have left their mark on the United States by France Amérique magazine, as representing innovative new media business ideas and, most of all, entrepreneurial spirit on an international scale.