From now on, the two pioneers of crowdfunding in France will become one. Ulule announced this Monday the acquisition of its competitor KissKissBankBank, a subsidiary of Banque Postale (LBP), for an undisclosed amount. HAS note: the two entities will continue to exist, but will benefit from a common technological infrastructure.
« We do the same basic job, but we have developed other services such as a training organization and a distribution channel, for Ulule », et « KissKissBankBank offers premium support », Explained to AFP Arnaud Burgot, general manager of Ulule, founded in 2010.
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« The complementary offers mixed with the expertise of the two teams brought together, now allow the two brands to offer a complete ecosystem », Indicate the platforms in a press release.
More than 480 million euros raised
Ulule and KissKissBankBank “have for 15 years enabled 80,000 entrepreneurial, solidarity, creative and cultural projects to see the light of day on their platforms. Together they represent a community of 9 million people and more than 480 million euros collected”.
In detail, 48,000 projects were supported. With more than 311 million euros collected by Ulule, and more than 29,000 projects and 177 million euros collected on KissKissBankBank.com. In addition, Ulule indicated that it will announce other ideas for developing its platform for the first quarter of 2025.
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KissKissBankBank.com was launched in 2009 before becoming a subsidiary of Banque Postale in 2017. Ulule has been profitable since 2020, indicated Arnaud Burgot, but KissKissBankBank has not achieved profitability. At the beginning of November, Lendosphere, a subsidiary of the 123 IM Group, announced the 100% acquisition of Lendopolis, a subsidiary of the participatory and solidarity financing division KissKissBankBank & Co held by La Banque Postale.
A market that has stalled in 2023
If they join forces, the two platforms will have to face a market which has stalled in 2023. A first since 2014, the date of the first regulatory framework for crowdfunding in France. This is the observation drawn up by the latest barometer on the subject, published in February by the Financement Participatif France (FPF) association and the financial consulting firm Mazars.
Last year, the overall decline in the sector therefore reached -11.3%, for a total of 2.089 billion euros in funds collected. In comparison, 2022 saw the collection reach a record of 2.3 billion euros.
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What explains this first decline in ten years? The culprit is none other than the real estate sector, which today generates around two thirds of crowdfunding transactions in France. In 2023, collection in this sector (which is mainly done through bond loans) is down sharply (-28%), totaling 1.161 billion euros collected (a level similar to 2021), compared to 1.607 billion euros in 2022 .
That being said, this downward trend does not overshadow the good dynamics of global crowdfunding in France, according to this latest study, which surveyed 150 platforms in the sector. Since 2015, the volume of funds raised has in fact multiplied by 12, totaling more than 9 billion euros, all transactional models combined (donation, loan, investment).
“This confirms the underlying trend in favor of crowdfunding as a financing solution in its own right, widely favored by the French”had performed FPF and Mazars
(With AFP)
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