Pono a solution to simplify trust management and the assumption of guarantees

Paris-based fintech Pono Technologies has announced the completion of its seed financing, raising €3 million in funding from Newfund, 115K (La Banque Postale) and Kima Ventures. The volume of financing secured by the Pono platform has grown exponentially from €150 million to €1 billion in one year.

FACTS

• Pono is a Paris-based fintech founded by Ladislas Manset in 2019, which currently employs 13 people.

• Pono, is a software that:

  • Simplifies trust management for credit institutions, alternative lenders and their advisors.

  • Facilitates the acceptance and control of collateral by lending institutions, alternative lenders, borrowers and their advisors.

• The Paris-based fintech announced that it has closed a €3 million seed round with the support of three new investors who will invest 75%.

  • The 115k fund (La Banque Postale) and Newfund backed by Kima Ventures, founded by Xavier Niel.

  • The remaining 25% was invested by historical business angels such as Didier Valet (Xanthe Conseil) who offered €500,000 for pre-seed.

  • Two thirds of the capital is still in the hands of the founders.

• Pono's portfolio includes four banks and nearly fifteen alternative lenders, whose identities are confidential.

• To support them in their development, a Strategic Committee composed of former banking and financial executives has just been formed: Didier Valet (ex-Société Générale), Gérard Bayol (ex-Arkea) and Donald Bryden (ex-RBS and ex-Oaktree).

• The amount of financing secured by Pono has increased explosively, from €150 million to €1 billion in one year, with a target of €2 billion by the second half of 2023.

CHALLENGES

• Disintermediate the trust market: For the record, the trust is a contract introduced into French law in 2007 which allows a natural or legal person to transfer ownership of an asset (or the title to a right) for a limited period of time into the hands of a trusted third party (the trustee). Initially reserved for the world of restructuring and complex financing, the trust has recently become a "plug and play" tool which allows the development of a trust profession directly driven by the actors who are at the origin of the security trust (banks or management companies) and the management trust (lawyers in particular).

• Making trusts an opportunity for business financing: Beyond the financial analysis of the borrower, trusts make it possible to secure the debt raised (obtain a better cost of capital or a higher ticket) for start-ups. Trusts can be used to back up bank or alternative financing with atypical elements of a start-up's balance sheet: technological developments, source codes, patents or even SaaS revenue receivables. Proof of the flexibility of this tool is the fact that the trust is on the rise, particularly in the fields of proptech and financing - notably BNPL and RBF.

• Expanding their business: By 2023, Pono will be able to double its R&D budget to €600,000 and its workforce to 26 people, mainly by recruiting programmers.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• The investment bank GP Bullhound has just published its "European SaaS Report 2022" on the "Software as a Service" sector in Europe. SaaS has fundamentally changed the software publishing market and has contributed to the birth of many European unicorns. SaaS solutions are easier to market, easier to implement and available internationally from the start. The European SaaS market was worth more than 15 billion euros in 2020. According to Statista, it should exceed 37 billion euros by 2025.

• Last March, Boursorama launched a new version of its Lombard loan, backed by a savings product. The launch of this offer takes advantage of new favourable legislation which extends the possibilities on the subject and enables Boursorama to better meet the needs of wealthy customers.