Yousign sets the standard for electronic signatures in Europe

The French start-up Yousign has come a long way since its creation in Caen in 2013. Through fundraising and partnerships, it has become a reference in France and Europe for electronic signatures. It is now buying a complementary player to consolidate its position.

FACTS

• Yousign has just acquired Canyon, a company specialising in the automation of document preparation and validation processes prior to signature, in order to offer a complete contractual document management service to European SMEs and VSEs.

• This acquisition represents a combination of expertise in :

  • e-signature,

  • contract management,

  • automation of workflows (or operational flows).

• With Canyon, Yousign now plans to offer a global service from the creation of documents to their storage, through their negotiation and finally, their signature.

• Yousign takes advantage of this announcement to specify that his company currently serves nearly 8,000 customers who will now be offered Canyon's "no-code" software, presented as intuitive and easy to configure without any particular technical skills.

• Canyon was founded in 2020 as part of the startup studio eFounders, which is also a long-time partner and investor in Yousign.

• Canyon targets SMEs with up to 1,000 employees and is already used by leading start-ups such as Aircall, Spendesk or Le Wagon.

KEY FIGURES

• Yousign has recorded 70% growth in 2021

• The company has grown from 60 to 130 employees in 2021

• Plans to serve 50,000 European SMEs by 2024

• Aims to achieve annual recurring revenue of at least €70 million

CHALLENGES

• Leveraging its new funds: Yousign raised €30 million in Series A funding 7 months ago. This acquisition is financed by this round of financing and thus directly supports Yousign's expansion strategy.

• Complementing its system: In addition to electronic signatures, Yousign is now seeking to position itself in a broader activity. Thanks to Canyon, the company hopes to become a European leader in the optimised management of corporate contractual documents.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• The electronic signature market is experiencing a rapid acceleration, boosted in particular by the accelerated digital transformation of companies in the context of the pandemic. The contract management market is estimated at more than 20 billion euros in Europe.

• Yousign is not the only player to want to take advantage of this dynamism. If its ambition concerns the European market, the group will also have to rely on the positioning of Docaposte (which has just acquired Idemia).

• In the United States, the objectives of the players in the sector have also been strengthened. MasterCard and Adobe, for example, committed themselves at the end of last year to transforming electronic signatures into payments.