Shine

Shine is a French payment institution offering digital banking services tailored for freelancers and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The company was founded in 2017 by Nicolas Reboud and Raphaël Simon, who drew from their own experiences as entrepreneurs to create a solution that simplifies administrative and financial tasks. Their previous entrepreneurial journey includes the creation of Printic, which was later acquired by M6 in 2014.

Launched in 2018, Shine provides a 100% online business account with a French IBAN and Mastercard options, managed through a mobile application. The platform's core offering is more than a bank account; it acts as a 'co-pilot' for entrepreneurs, integrating tools for invoicing, expense tracking, calculating taxes and social charges, and overall accounting simplification. The business model operates on a tiered subscription basis, with monthly fees providing access to different levels of features, making it scalable for businesses as they grow. Initially, Shine operated as an agent of Treezor, a banking-as-a-service provider that was also acquired by Société Générale.

The company demonstrated rapid growth, attracting over 70,000 entrepreneurs within its first two years. This success led to its acquisition by Société Générale in June 2020 for a reported €100 million. The acquisition was intended to provide Shine with greater resources to expand its services—such as credit, insurance, and payment options—while allowing it to operate independently. Post-acquisition, Shine obtained its own payment institution license from the French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR) in September 2021, a major milestone that enabled it to develop more services, including cash deposits via a partnership with Brink's. In a subsequent development, Danish company Ageras acquired Shine from Société Générale in 2024, continuing the fintech's journey under new ownership. The original founders, Reboud and Simon, transitioned out of their leadership roles in April 2024.

Keywords: neobank, fintech, business banking, freelance banking, SME banking, online bank account, administrative management, invoicing tool, accounting simplification, payment institution, digital banking, entrepreneur tools, financial management, business account, mobile banking, Société Générale, Ageras, Nicolas Reboud, Raphaël Simon, French tech