Analysis

June 27, 2023

Dream or delusion? An entrepreneur wants to build a European rival to Google

France’s Octave Klaba believes he can turn search engine Qwant into the cornerstone of a cloud services giant


Chris O’Brien

8 min read

Octave Klaba, founder of OVHCloud

French search engine Qwant launched a decade ago with a tantalising pitch: an alternative to Google that protected its users’ privacy and promoted European tech sovereignty.

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Then Qwant CEO Eric Léandri (left) discusses a new Azure partnership with Microsoft executive VP Jean-Philippe Courtois at Viva Tech in 2019. Photo courtesy of Viva Technology
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Chris O’Brien

Chris O’Brien is a writer for Sifted. He covers French tech, and can be found on X and LinkedIn

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