Younited Credit, leading on-line personal loans platform in France and the largest French Fintech celebrates its 5th birthday this month.
This date marks a target in terms of development, since the start-up has just passed the 400 million euros mark for loans financed since 2011.
“We are proud of how far we’ve come, and we are continuing to look forward. Younited Credit is presently the only loans platform in the world with its own Credit Institution approval. More than ever, globalisation is the key to our success. For instance, in August 2016, 75% of credit granted to French and Italian households was funded by German and Austrian investors. In 2017, this process will move into a new phase, with the opening up of Spain!” Charles Egly, Co-founder and Chairman of Younited Credit
Younited Credit investors
There are 3000 professional investors funding the platform’s loan (both individuals and legal entities).
Since 2014, Hexagone Finance has helped Younited Credit to seek institutional investors to fund the platform.
In August 2016, Younited Credit passed the symbolic figure of 100 million euros outstanding on its Conservateur Long fund. The total for outstanding loans held by the company now exceeds 250 million in assets managed.
Younited Credit is also continuing to innovate by diversifying its funds. Since August 2015, the platform has been marketing a new savings product and fixed term accounts, particularly through its partnership with the Raisin platform (launched in June 2016).
A strong enterprise culture…
Younited Credit has recently started preparing for a complete overhaul of its business values: After several surveys of its employees, followed by some brainstorming sessions, the start-up has defined 5 values: No limits, Make it simple, Faster is better, Innovate or Die! and Act like an entrepreneur.
“80% of the Younited Credit employees contributed to the formalisation of these values,” adds Geoffroy Guigou, Managing director of Younited Credit. “It is vital for us, given YC’s speed of growth, to question and reflect on what constitutes our unique company DNA. So these values will now form part of our recruitment process, helping us to choose the best candidates”.
These values are included in the start-up’s promise: to offer a transparent, simple and quick service (text message response within 24 hours), using cutting-edge technology.
…And new premises, to suit its image
From Issy-Les-Moulineaux and then Balard, the Younited Credit team, grown from 3 to 130 employees in France in 5 years, has had to move to more spacious premises. It is now settled in Rue Drouot, in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, alongside a group of twenty co-working start-ups, who have sub-let several offices to the company.
Younited Credit has shaped the spaces to suit the image of its five core values. Gone are closed offices, the start-up now has wide open-space working areas, even for the managers, who are all at once closer to their teams.
For the record, the meeting rooms have inherited some of the names not chosen when “Prêt d’Union” was renamed “Younited Credit”. Some off-beat examples: Money Lisa, Happy Lending, and June Loan…