Ageras to acquire French FinTech Shine from Societe Generale

By Gloria Methri

Ageras has signed an exclusive agreement with Societe Generale to acquire French SME FinTech Shine. This transaction, which follows a €82 million fundraise announced in April 2024, is the company’s largest acquisition to date and its eighth overall.

With the acquisition of Shine, Ageras aims to strengthen its position as a provider of banking and accounting software for SMEs, expanding its foothold in France. The region has been a core market for the Danish FinTech since its entry in 2021 with the acquisition of pan-European invoicing software Zervant.

The addition of Shine’s banking product would enable Ageras to service the entire lifecycle of French small businesses, from company formation to invoicing, accounting and daily banking and payments. In addition, Shine’s expertise and technological leadership within banking would strengthen Ageras’ banking activities across Europe.

This transaction, which is likely to close in the first half of 2025, represents one of the two potential major acquisitions that Ageras is targeting to build a pan-European champion in banking and accounting software ahead of a potential IPO in 2026.

“The combination of Shine’s excellent banking product with our broad banking, accounting and business software would enable us to deliver a complete offering of key financial solutions in France, mirroring our success in other core markets. We are truly impressed with what the Shine team has built and are looking forward to welcoming the team and together building the leading financial player for SMEs in France and across Europe,” said Rico Andersen, CEO of Ageras, which he co-founded with Martin Hegelund in 2012.

Shine was founded in 2017 in France to simplify the lives of the self-employed and small businesses. Societe Generale became a majority shareholder in the company in 2020. Much more than a business account, Shine also offers a «co-pilot» solution to provide SMEs with a full daily banking service with adjacent features, such as invoicing, payments and company formation.

“Shine is offering a superior business banking product with transparent pricing, a great user interface and top-quality support, which is loved by our customers, yielding a strong market position. ⁠Invoicing, accounting and daily banking are becoming more and more connected. Under the Ageras umbrella, we would be able to offer a state-of-the-art, comprehensive offering that simplifies the daily life of small businesses in Europe,” said Shine’s CEO Jean-Baptiste Sciandra.