Babyloan

Babyloan emerged in 2008 as a pioneering peer-to-peer microfinance website in Europe, founded by French social entrepreneur Arnaud Poissonnier and co-founder Aurélie Duthoit. Poissonnier transitioned from a 12-year career in wealth management banking after being inspired by the microfinance work of the French NGO ACTED. This experience, coupled with discovering peer-to-peer lending models in the United States, led him to establish Babyloan as a social business, structured so that all profits are reinvested into its core mission rather than paid out as dividends.

The platform operates as a philanthropic crowdfunding tool, enabling individuals to lend money, starting from as little as 10 euros, to micro-entrepreneurs in developing countries and France. These loans are interest-free for the lender. Once the loan is repaid, the lender can withdraw their capital or reinvest it into another project, creating a sustainable cycle of support. Babyloan's model serves a dual purpose: it provides a low-cost refinancing channel for microfinance institutions (MFIs) and aims to improve the loan conditions for entrepreneurs who are typically excluded from traditional banking systems. The platform partners with MFIs, which select and profile entrepreneurs, and Babyloan facilitates the transfer of pooled funds from its online community to these institutions.

Since its inception, Babyloan has facilitated the lending of over 30 million EUR from its community, supporting more than 50,000 family businesses across numerous countries. The business model, which offered a 0% interest rate, proved difficult to sustain without the large-scale subsidies that similar platforms receive. After facing financial hardship, the company was acquired by Lendahand in a deal announced in June 2023, ensuring the continuation of its mission and service to its lenders and entrepreneurs.

Keywords: microcredit, peer-to-peer lending, social entrepreneurship, crowdfunding, microfinance, philanthropic lending, social business, impact investing, solidarity lending, financial inclusion, Arnaud Poissonnier, ACTED, development finance, sustainable development, entrepreneur financing, North-South lending, P2P finance, social impact, Lendahand, community financing