French fintech unicorn Qonto is likely to apply for a full banking licence within the next year, CEO Alexandre Prot revealed in a recent interview. The move marks a strategic pivot as the company, now profitable and serving 500,000 small business customers across eight European countries, gears up to expand its suite of financial services.
Prot says the licence — likely to be pursued in France, where Qonto already holds its payment institution status — would enable the company to offer longer-term loans, savings, and investment products, and serve larger SMEs with up to 50 employees. This is key to reaching Qonto’s ambitious target of 2 million customers by 2030.
“Getting a banking licence would allow us to own more of the value chain,” Prot explains, noting the company’s recent move to process card transactions in-house. With its own licence, Qonto could operate more independently from banking partners, especially in areas like international payments and credit lines.
Fundraising and M&A Strategy
Despite its 2022 €486 million raise at a €4.4 billion valuation, Qonto has no immediate fundraising plans. “We’re profitable, so we don’t intend to be raising additional capital,” Prot says. Future fundraising would only happen to fund a large M&A deal, he adds.
Qonto has already made two acquisitions — Germany’s Penta in 2022 (geographic expansion), and France’s Regate in 2024 (product/channel expansion via accountants). Prot says the company is open to more deals to accelerate its goals.
IPO? Not Yet
While Qonto is slowly preparing for a potential IPO, it’s not on the immediate roadmap. “Three, five years from now, it might be an IPO,” says Prot. For now, the focus is on building, expanding, and acquiring — not listing.
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