Swile will get its hands on Bimpli, a subsidiary of the BPCE group. On the occasion of this acquisition, the banking group will become Swile’s largest shareholder, with a 22% stake in the capital of the Montpellier company.
New step in the development of Swile. The French start-up, specializing in dematerialized meal vouchers and salary benefits (mobility offer, gift vouchers, commitment and well-being of employees, etc.), has announced that it has entered into exclusive negotiations to get its hands on Bimpli, a subsidiary of the BPCE group. It is developing a platform that brings together restaurant vouchers, gift vouchers, personal services and CSE services. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
On the occasion of this acquisition, the BPCE group will become Swile’s largest shareholder, with a 22% stake in the capital of the Montpellier company. “Today marks a tremendous boost to our common desire to develop a worktech champion at the global level”, says Loïc Soubeyrand, founder and CEO of Swile. The new entity will bring together nearly 5 million employee users in 75,000 client companies. By way of comparison, Edenred has 50 million users worldwide.
A unicorn that turns into a centaur
With this new operation, which comes on top of other acquisitions (Briq, Sweevana, Vee Beneficios, Okarito, etc.), Swile no longer wants to limit itself to VSEs and SMEs and also intends to attract large groups. This new target should allow the French company to collect additional income, while it is aiming for an annual recurring income (ARR) of 140 million euros in 2022. By achieving this objective, Swile would join the circle of centaurs, these start-ups whose annual recurring revenue (ARR) exceeds $100 million, such as Aircall.
Last October, Swile had become a unicorn, a start-up valued at least a billion dollars, after a fundraising of 173 million euros led by SoftBank. In addition to extending its field of action and expanding its customer base, the French company also wants to gain ground internationally, particularly in Latin America, where it has chosen Brazil to deploy its services. By managing to afford a branch of a large group like BPCE, the unicorn headed by Loïc Soubeyrand is sending a strong signal to the market. It aims for profitability by 2024.