Societe Generale Buys Entrepreneur-Focused Neobank Shine

Societe Generale is acquiring Shine, a neobank for those who start businesses, according to a Tuesday (June 30) announcement. The financial institution said that the company has become a top neobank in only two years, providing offerings to more than 70,000 businesspeople.

“Shine’s model appealed to us because it reinforces our relational promise to offer clients the best of mix of people and digital technology, ” Marie-Christine Ducholet, director of Societe Generale retail banking in France, said in the announcement.

The executive also noted that “there are many synergies with our various businesses allowing us to take our Open Banking strategy to the next level.”

Societe Generale said Shine will keep growing on its own with the goal of helping new customers. The bank will market the startup’s products to corporate clients that have a preference for completely digital management and low-cost offerings.

The bank said it will provide a comprehensive offering that includes the experience of advisers to these clients when their business activity and requirements develop. That transition would occur through “a seamless continuum” and without the need to switch financial institutions per the announcement.

Shine, which rolled out in 2018, has notched €10.8 million from XAnge, Daphni, Kima Ventures and multiple business angels.

Nicolas Reboud, CEO and co-founder of Shine, said in the announcement, “This acquisition will provide entrepreneurs with a solution that is still simple but considerably enriched (credit, insurance, payment, etc.).”

In 2018, Reboud spoke to PYMNTS regarding the state of the gig economy at the time — the French version of it — and the firm’s place in the landscape. The executive noted at the time that the move to work as a freelancer is a transition to accepting complexity when transacting with the government.

Reboud told PYMNTS at the time, “You never know what you need to do, what you should be doing. It’s pretty daunting.” The firm was born from an experience he had with one his past firms, and via a relationship that illustrated the particulars of freelancing.