While hiking in the Massif du Chablais, near the village of Châtel in the Vallée d'Abondance, Alexandre Leforestier, entrepreneur and founder of music platform Qobuz, found inspiration for Panodyssey.

Reflecting on his career after fifteen years in the online music business, he came across a shepherd in the Swiss alpine pastures of Chanso. Their exchange, in the heart of a threatened natural environment, reveals to him the excesses of the modern web. Alexandre then imagines a more humane, ethical and advertising-free digital space dedicated to literary creativity.

Back from this inspiring experience, Alexandre began to shape Panodyssey. Supported by his brother Sébastien and a few close friends, he laid the foundations of this social network with Yann and Marc, two former engineering school friends, who joined the project. Joris, a talented developer, completes the team. Together, they are committed to creating a peaceful, secure digital space dedicated to authors and readers alike.

After several months of preparation, Panodyssey sees the light of day with its first web version. This social network stands out for its commitment to content quality and security, offering literary creators a refuge from commercial pressures and invasive algorithms. This first step marks a decisive turning point, quickly attracting a community of creators in search of an ethical platform.

Panodyssey's European expansion becomes a reality thanks to support from the European Commission's Europe Creative Innovation Lab program. This funding enabled the creation of the first European consortium, the Creative Room European Alliance (CREA), in partnership with the Spanish news agency Agencia EFE. Together, they aim to promote a new European model for digital spaces dedicated to creativity, reconciling ethics and digital.

Encouraged by Europe, Panodyssey takes another step forward by joining EIT Culture & Creativity, the new Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). This program, funded by the European Commission and launched at the instigation of the Fraunhofer Institute, is headed by Bernd Fesel, CEO of EIT Culture & Creativity. As a Cooperation Partner, Panodyssey contributes its expertise in the following sectors.

Panodyssey joins forces with some forty European partners, including France Télévisions, Agence France-Presse (AFP), Institut National de l'Audiovisuel (INA), and Orange, to launch the Trusted European Media Data Space (TEMS) project. This consortium, the largest dedicated to the media in Europe, develops trust technologies for cultural and creative companies, particularly press and book publishers. Panodyssey has thus positioned itself as a key player in the European cultural and innovative ecosystem, promoting quality writing.

Building on its success, Panodyssey is launching a third European consortium, thanks to the European Commission's Europe Creative Innovation Lab program: CREA Trust AI. This project, in which Arte TV and Spanish news agency Agencia EFE are participating, aims to develop trustworthy, transparent and ethical technologies to support content creators and publishers in the midst of the AI revolution.

Speaking at the Panodyssey forum in Madrid on November 14, 2023, European Commissioner Iliana Ivanova stresses the importance of these initiatives:

“We are committed to creating a fairer environment for our cultural and creative talent. I encourage you to take full advantage of these opportunities to unleash the transformative power of artificial intelligence. I wish you very fruitful exchanges.”

At Panodyssey, we are deeply committed to creative and narrative projects with young people, around strong ecological and educational issues.

The Green Tales project is a perfect illustration of this commitment. It aims to raise awareness of environmental protection among disadvantaged children in Europe through the arts and digital tools. Involving 100 children and 12 artists from Turkey, Iceland, Germany and Spain, this project creates 8 illustrated stories on the four elements (earth, air, water, fire) and a final animated film.

Supported by the European Commission and the Erasmus Plus program, Green Tales is led by the International Yehudi Menuhin Foundation and its director and writer, Marianne Poncelet. Green Tales promotes social inclusion, intercultural exchange and ecological awareness through art.

With a clear vision and unwavering determination, Panodyssey continues to chart its course, reinventing the digital space for a more creative and ethical Europe.