Famileo started from a personal observation by Tanguy de Gélis, the other co-founder, whose family communicated through a shared WhatsApp group. While everyone used it, his grandmother struggled to navigate this digital tool.
“ What she loved were the letters and postcards she used to receive. She kept all the ones the children used to send regularly during their holidays, but those stopped coming as everyone switched to digital ,” explains Armel de Lesquen.
Famileo began to rebuild the bridge between older and younger generations, particularly in nursing homes (Ehpad) and service residences, where the two partners identified a strong need to strengthen connections. The solution then expanded to individuals. Today, 320,000 families use the app, including 270,000 individuals and 50,000 within nursing homes, spread across about 2,500 establishments in France, as well as in Spain, the UK, the USA, Canada, and soon in Germany and Belgium.
So, practically, with the Famileo app, you just need to take one or more photos and write a short text, and the rest of the family does the same. Automatically, all these messages are transformed into a small printed newspaper and sent by mail to the grandmother or grandfather's home.
“ The main advantage is simply being able to maintain a connection with someone you love. We call it proof of love. We say that love doesn’t exist, only proofs of love ,” jokes Armel de Lesquen.
These touching messages help restore a social bond that is severely lacking in France. There are said to be over 5 million people in a state of social death, meaning they are cut off from almost all connections with others, according to the co-founder. “ You can’t imagine how much loneliness eats away at people, including those who are quite comfortable with digital technology. ”
“ They say that new generations don’t write anymore, but that’s not true. You just need to give them the right tools for them to send all these proofs of love, all these messages to their loved ones regularly. And it’s great because that’s really the mission we set for ourselves ,” concludes Armel de Lesquen.
