Qonto, Ledger, and Younited Credit, Leading Trio of the French Fintech Ecosystem

Since its Series D of 486 million euros in January 2022, almost nothing has stood up to Qonto, now finding the company on the first position in the fintech ranking. With a valuation of 4.4 billion euros before the financing crisis hit tech in the second quarter of 2022, the B2B neobank does not hide its ambitions and positions itself among the players consolidating the fintech ecosystem. Its recent purchase of Regate is an illustration of this.

In this context, it is not surprising to find Qonto on first place on the podium in the 3rd edition of the Fintech 100 rankings of Truffle Capital and Finance Innovation, carried out in partnership with BPCE and Sopra Steria. The company created in 2016 by Alexandre Prot and Steve Anavi is ahead of Ledger, a leading player in securing crypto-assets, and Younited Credit, a specialist in consumer credit.

Swile, which also got its hands on Bimpli, a subsidiary of the BPCE group, in 2022, and Alan , first in the ranking last year, complete the Top 5. As a reminder, this ranking is established based on several criteria ( growth, workforce, fundraising, etc.).

Recomposition of the fintech ranking in the midst of a drop in fundraising

In total, 201 fintech companies and insurtech companies were surveyed as part of this 2024 ranking edition. All of these companies generated a turnover of 2 billion euros in 2023 If the income of players in the sector has increased in recent years, the opposite has happened in terms of fundraising. Thus, the fintech companies and insurtech companies listed have raised barely 482 million euros in total in 2023, compared to 1.1 billion a year earlier.

This drop is explained by the scarcity of financing in tech but also by a profound restructuring of the Fintech 100 rankings. And for good reason, this 2024 edition is marked by a profound restructuring of the ranking with the entry of 39 new companies, such as Pigment, new tricolor unicorn after a raising of $145 million, which lands directly in 10th place, and the exit of 10% of those present in the previous edition due to a cessation of activity or an acquisition by a large group or a fintech, like Luko, taken over by Allianz.

Furthermore, the biggest increases can be attributed to Assurly (+54 places), Defacto (+54), Lemonway (+52), Alma (+42) and Cashbee (+38). On the other hand, it’s a cold shower for Leocare (-56), Rosaly (-55), Paylead (-38) and Trustpair (-33).

A sector between consolidation and regulation

In terms of key lessons from the study, it should be noted that 72% of the companies surveyed operate in the B2B market and that 45% are considering an external growth operation or a merger. It must be said that with financing more difficult to obtain, the current period is conducive to consolidation in the sector.

However, the financing crisis in tech does not necessarily lead to massive waves of layoffs, since 96% of the players who took part in this 2024 edition plan to recruit over the next six months, representing a total of 1,633 positions to be filled.

Furthermore, 68% of respondents indicate that they have international coverage or want to expand it in the next 12 months. Unsurprisingly, Western Europe, the Benelux, the Iberian Peninsula and the United Kingdom are the markets favored by French fintech companies and insurtech companies. 39% of companies also list French and foreign competition among the main risks and challenges they face on a daily basis.

However, what concerns them most is compliance and changing regulations (55%). Availability of funding (36%) and shortage of talent (34%) were also among respondents’ areas of concern. It will be interesting to monitor the evolution of the perception of these issues from one year to the next during the 2025 ranking edition.

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(Featured image by Joshua Golde via Unsplash)

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First published in Maddyness. A third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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