kimaventures

New funding round for Pretdunion

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French p2p lending service Prêt d’Union raised 3.3 million EUR (approx. 4.2 million US$) in a new funding round from new investors (including Weber Investment, the holding of the two founders of la Financière de l’Echiquier and AG2R La Mondiale) and from its previous shareholders. The company has raised a total of 8.1 million EUR since its inception in October 2009. Along with PRÊT D’UNION’s founders, employees and private investors, the company shareholders are CREDIT MUTUEL ARKEA (34.9%), KIMA VENTURES (5.2%), Xavier Niel and Jeremy Berrebi’s fund (4,2%), Weber Investments (6.4%) and AG2R La Mondiale (2.9%).

“The launch phase was successful. With more than 2.5 million EUR of loans granted in less than six months, we are currently at a rate of over 1 million EUR of credit granted per month, which amounts to a monthly growth of 40%. This new round of financing, … , is an important milestone for PRÊT D’UNION. It will enable us to accelerate our business development through new recruitments, improve our customer service and reach for new customers,” explained Charles EGLY & Geoffroy GUIGOU, respectively CEO and COO at Prêt d’Union.

Pretdunion Gains Banking License And Raises Funding

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It is a successful autumn for French p2p lending service Prêt d’Union. After two years of work, Prêt d’Union was granted a banking license by the French authority. Prêt d’Union also raised a second financing round for 3.8 million Euro (approx. 5.2 million US$) from Crédit Mutuel Arkea and Kimaventures and others. The total funding raised is now 4.8 million Euro.

“The funds raised are for marketing, software development and operating costs. Note that we have dedicated 2.2 million Euro for the approval of the Bank of France to be recognized as an institution credit, such as Cetelem or Sofinco, “said Charles Egly, CEO of Prêt d’Union (statement originally in French, translated).

See a video interview with founder Charles Egly on Frenchweb.

Offering p2p loans for 36, 48 and 60 month loan terms the company aims to reach a 0.1% market share of  the consumer credit market in France.

Update: Lending on Prêt d’Union is restricted to lenders that have ‘accredited investor’ status (this excludes the majority of population).

Kimaventures Invests in Pretdunion

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Kimaventures has announced investing in Pret d’union, a p2p lending company in France, which according to it’s website, aims to launch in 2011. Unconfirmed sources state that the funding round raised 500,000 Euro – no information which investors participated apart from Kivaventures is available.

CEO Charles Egly is a former banker at BNP Paribas. While the business model was drafted in September 2008, the company was founded in October 2009 and received regulatory approval in December 2009.

Earlier this year French p2p lending service Friendsclear raised 522,000 Euro from several investors including Arkeon Finance.

EDIT: Additional information provided by CEO Charles Egly:
– as of today, Prêt d’Union raised ca. 1 M€ from Business Angels and Kima Ventures.
– in december 2009 Prêt d’union filed a propectus to get a credit institution licence. Prêt d’Union has not yet received the licence and is still in discussion with the Bank of France.