In 2025, 1,165,800 new businesses were registered in France. Most are sole proprietors and small businesses with a few employees—a group that accounts for 99 percent of all French companies and employs 6.9 million people. The traditional financing model very rarely meets this group’s needs—the cost of conducting a credit check for a small loan can be nearly as high as for a significantly larger one, making small loans less profitable for banks.
Froda’s model is designed to solve that equation. Credit assessments are performed automatically and are based on the company’s own transaction data, not on manual processing or subjective judgment. The models are trained using Froda’s own lending history and are continuously improved with data from eight European markets. Every business is assessed using the same criteria, which ensures consistent decisions and makes it possible to lend smaller amounts. The financing is integrated into the platforms that small business owners already use. To date, Froda has funded 160,000 loans, totaling just over 25 billion kronor.
- France has more startups than ever before, but funding hasn’t kept pace. For a small business, 5,000 euros can be just as crucial as 500,000 euros is for a larger one, but the traditional model makes it harder for banks to offer those smaller amounts. “Together with Shine, we channel funding to where entrepreneurs are already running their businesses, so they can act on opportunities as they arise,” says Olle Lundin, CEO and co-founder of Froda.
The third market for Shine—and the largest
The launch builds on an established partnership between Froda and Shine. Shine’s subsidiaries Kontist in Germany and Billy in Denmark already offer business loans through Froda’s embedded platform. France will be the third and largest market where the companies are collaborating.
- We’ve already seen what Froda’s financing means for small businesses in Germany and Denmark, and we’re seeing tremendous demand in France. “Our ambition has always been to give entrepreneurs everything they need to run their businesses in one place, and fast, fair financing is an incredibly important part of that. Froda shares this vision and is the right partner as we now take this to our largest market,” says Rico Adlor-Andersen, CEO and co-founder of Shine.
The launch follows a pilot program with selected Shine customers over the summer and a gradual rollout to the entire customer base in September.
With support from InvestEU
The French offering is backed by a microfinance guarantee from the European Investment Fund (EIF) under the EU’s InvestEU program. The EIF, which is part of the European Investment Bank (EIB), works through licensed financial partners such as Froda to reach entrepreneurs who would otherwise have limited access to financing. For Shine’s customers, this means better access to financing and more favorable terms.
Froda plans to bring on more partners in France. The launch comes after a year of strong growth for the company, which has included its first partnership with a major bank, SpareBank 1 Østlandet. Froda currently integrates its financing solutions with fintech companies, platforms, and established banks in the Nordic countries, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, and now France as well.
About Shine
Shine is an administrative and financial copilot for businesses and their accounting firms. The platform brings together business accounts, e-invoicing, and bookkeeping in one place and simplifies day-to-day operations—from getting paid to keeping track of bookkeeping and regulatory compliance. This gives business owners more time to focus on their operations and accounting consultants more time to provide advice. Today’s Shine is the result of the merger between Shine and Cegid, which began in 2026, and the goal is to cover the entire chain in a unified ecosystem, from the end customer’s invoice to the firm’s financial statements. Shine is led by Rico Adlor-Andersen and currently has one million business owners and 15,000 accounting consultants as clients in France and the rest of Europe. The company is licensed as a payment institution by the French regulatory authority ACPR and has been named “Customer Service of the Year” (Élu Service Client de l’Année) for three consecutive years in the category of online banking for businesses.
Posted
September 29, 2026
