Franck Vialle had the courage and imagination to turn his handicap into an asset.
After a serious accident, he was left tetraplegic. For a long time, he experienced the common difficulties of someone who has a hard time getting around.
That is where his idea to create an on-demand accompanying system came from.
The investment? With his project in hand, he went to some business start-up organizations and managed to get about 500,000 francs total.
He received an unexpected amount that would enable him to purchase three vehicles that were specially equipped for transporting handicapped individuals and that would help him create his own company in January of 1997 in Nice. Based on the idea of travel in Greek mythology, he founded Ulysse!
Two years later, his sales reached one million francs with twenty customers transported per day to the hospital, airport, and boutiques downtown.
Franck also invested in the lower level of the age pyramid: From that point on, his eight chauffeurs would drive just as much to preschools as to retirement homes.
Since this spring, he has been preparing to duplicate his experiment in Paris, Normandy, and the Var.

The VIVENDI foundation granted him a subsidy of 150,000 francs.
Franck Vialle was just 29 years old.
After his accident, he was left paraplegic. During his studies, it was very difficult for him to get around. He learned that there were a lot of handicapped individuals in the region of Nice with the same problem.
He created the company named "ULYSSE" that provides a high quality transportation service.
Franck asked the VIVENDI foundation for money in 1996 in order to buy a vehicle and create 4 chauffeur jobs. Thanks to him, life is a bit better in the region.

For the last two years in the Alpes-Maritimes, we can no longer meet the growing demand": France Vialle, who was left tetraplegic after his accident, is now an accomplished CEO. Having experienced great difficulties in getting around in order to pursue his studies after his accident, he decided to launch his own company to provide transportation for handicapped individuals. In 1997, after a conclusive study conducted by a management company, he founded his business with 50,000 francs he had saved. An agreement with the Group for the Insertion of Handicapped Individuals would be a decisive factor. That is actually how Franck was able to create a 24hr service, 7 days a week, that handicapped individuals were lacking up until that point in time. A way to get around at any hour of the day wasn't very affordable for them due to the high cost of vehicles. The trick for him was to develop a business of regular public transportation (mainly for school children) assisted by the State, that enabled him to make the vehicles he offered to private individuals cost-effective in view of the demand. He needed to set his company apart from taxis (who don't accompany their customers to the very place they need to go such as to their houses or to their office) and ambulances ("A Handicapped person is not sick! " ). Thanks to Franck, this type of transportation entered into the era of professionalism: "The attitude of the company has changed. We come from the do-it-yourself era where good work was done by family and friends. " Franck's company Ulysse created 9 new jobs and became well known. He was bombarded with calls asking how he did it. In April, he opened three new offices in South Paris, Normandy, and the Var. A comical proof of his success: The Vivendi foundation, one of the giants in the transportation of individuals that financed his upstart with a grant of 150,000 francs, began to wonder if their "protégé" was becoming a formidable competitor. " You know you have succeeded when you begin making others jealous", chuckles this entrepreneur who proved through his hard work that there is a huge market out there that is being neglected.