What Les Éclaireuses does

Herstory Media, operating as Herstory (formerly Les Éclaireuses), is a France-based, independent digital media company founded in 2014 and headquartered in Levallois-Perret. The company publishes a premium editorial website, herstory-media.com, organized into four principal verticals — Société, Perso, Lifestyle, and Pop Culture — with sub-sections covering women's rights, sport, history, health, relationships, astrology, beauty, fashion, outings and travel, cinema and series, music, and books. Its primary audience is women, and increasingly a feminist-oriented readership, with content written in French and positioned around inclusive, engaged coverage of feminine narratives.

The core product is a content marketing engine: editorial articles, native video under the "Les vidéos Herstory" banner, and a "Shopping" section that integrates brand-driven content and apparent affiliate/brand-collab monetization (e.g., coverage of Monoprix and Puma collaborations). A "Club / Les produits" membership area and inscription/login flow suggest a nascent subscription or membership-based offering layered on top of the advertising business. Underlying technology is a standard digital publishing platform; no proprietary technology stack, API, or technical differentiator is disclosed.

The business model is digital advertising on the owned site, supplemented by the emerging club/membership product and commercial partnerships. Go-to-market is direct-to-consumer media, with the editorial line itself serving as the top-of-funnel demand-generation channel. The company operates with a small team (11–50 employees) under founder/CEO Melody Madar, and in September 2024 rebranded from Les Éclaireuses to Herstory to consolidate its feminist editorial positioning.

Name

Les Éclaireuses

Legal name

Herstory Media

Website

https://leseclaireuses.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Herstory Media (formerly Les Éclaireuses) is a France-based independent digital media company publishing a French-language editorial website for women covering society, lifestyle, pop culture, and personal topics, monetized through digital advertising and an emerging membership club.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Media & Lifestyle Publishing

NAICS

Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (516210)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Long-Form Writing & Article Platforms (MPACAIAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Community-Integrated Publishing Platforms (MPACAIAI)

Keywords

• Digital media publishing
• Women's lifestyle content
• Feminist editorial platform
• Beauty and fashion media
• Pop culture journalism

Headquarters

HQ city

Levallois-perret

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Digital advertising: The media company generates revenue through advertising on its digital platform, serving content to a readership audience interested in women's topics, society, pop culture, and lifestyle content.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Herstory Media is a French-language premium digital media platform publishing editorial content targeting women and feminist-oriented readers. The platform covers society, lifestyle, pop culture, beauty, fashion, and personal development topics across multiple categories, supplemented by video content and a membership club section.

Product overview

Herstory Media (formerly Les Éclaireuses) operates as a single premium digital media platform offering content across society, pop culture, lifestyle, and personal topics. The platform is organized into editorial categories including Société, Perso, Lifestyle, and Pop Culture, with sub-sections covering Mode (fashion), Beauté (beauty), Sorties & Voyages (outings/travel), Ciné & séries, Musique, and Livres. The company also maintains a Club membership section and a Shopping feature integrated into the platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Herstory Media (digital media platform) Premium French-language digital media platform publishing editorial content across society, pop culture, lifestyle, beauty, fashion, travel, health, and personal topics, organized into four main categories (Société, Perso, Lifestyle, Pop Culture) with sub-sections covering Mode, Beauté, Sorties & Voyages, Ciné & séries, Musique, and Livres. Targets women and feminist-oriented readers.
• Les produits / Club Herstory (Membership) Membership / club section of the Herstory Media platform enabling user inscription and connection, serving as a subscription or membership-based community layer associated with the media offering.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Cheek Magazine: French digital media brand targeting young women with feminist, pop-culture, lifestyle, and sex-positive content — directly comparable editorial mix and audience.
• Terrafemina: French digital media brand focused on women's perspectives across society, lifestyle, and pop culture — closely comparable editorial positioning and audience overlap.
• MadmoiZelle: French digital media company targeting young women with feminist, pop-culture, and lifestyle editorial — directly comparable audience, editorial positioning, and GTM motion to Herstory.
• Causette: French feminist magazine covering society, culture, and politics from a women's perspective — comparable values-driven editorial brand competing for the same advertiser base.

Broad incumbents

• Grazia France: Established French edition of Grazia magazine covering fashion, beauty, and celebrity — competes for the same fashion/beauty advertiser spend with much greater scale.
• Aufeminin: One of France's largest women's lifestyle digital media groups (now part of Marmite/SBF/ TF1 group), covering beauty, fashion, and society at much greater scale — direct competitor for advertisers and audience.
• Refinery29 (Vice Media): International digital media brand targeting women with feminist-oriented editorial across lifestyle, culture, and society — useful international benchmark for Herstory's positioning at greater scale.
• Marie Claire France: Major French women's fashion and lifestyle digital media brand, offering overlapping coverage of mode, beauté, société, and culture — a much larger, well-funded competitor.

Others

• Slate.fr: Major French online media covering société, culture, and lifestyle — overlaps in audience demographic and society/editorial coverage even if not a direct women's-focused brand.

Regional players

• Konbini: French digital lifestyle and pop-culture media brand with a similar youth-oriented, socially engaged editorial line; visibly linked as a partner footer on Herstory Media's site.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Les Éclaireuses