French fintech iBanFirst opens first CEE office in Bucharest

French fintech iBanFirst has opened an office in Bucharest, the company's first in Central and Eastern Europe.

iBanFirst is a financial services provider that addresses the needs of SMEs. As an alternative to traditional bank offerings, it developed an online platform that allows companies to conduct transactions in over 30 currencies.

The company expects to attract 500 clients to its trading platform in its first year of activity on the Romanian market, and a support team of 20 consultants, it said in a release.

The launch of the Romanian office and the expansion into Central and Eastern Europe are part of the company's development strategy backed by the acquisition, earlier this year, of a majority stake by the US fund Marlin Equity Partners, in a deal valued at EUR 200 million, it said. The deal made Marlin the majority shareholder of iBanFirst, with Pierre-Antoine Dusoulier, the company's CEO and founder, taking second place.

In addition to the Romanian office, iBanFirst plans to open offices in Bulgaria and Hungary in the coming months.

"iBanFirst is at a stage where it is accelerating the expansion of its European presence with the goal of facilitating business access to agile, affordable and customized global trading solutions. Together with our new investor Marlin Equity Partners, we believe that Central and Eastern Europe represents one of the markets with the highest growth potential for our company. We have chosen to enter this area with a first office in Romania because it shows very good signs of economic recovery post-Covid-19, and companies are very open to new technologies, being 'early adopters'. By combining the benefits of a state-of-the-art transaction platform available to clients with the support of an expert local team, we want to help as many businesses in Romania as possible to streamline their day-to-day operations and accelerate their growth plans," Pierre-Antoine Dusoulier, CEO and founder of iBanFirst, said.

Founded in Paris in 2013, iBanFirst is a French company based in Belgium, with operations in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. It is regulated as a payment institution, serving more than 4,000 customers across Europe. A member of the SWIFT global interbank communication network and SEPA certified, iBanFirst holds AISP and PISP accreditations. The company has attracted funding from European venture capital funds including Elaia, Bpifrance Large Venture and NJJ Capital. In May 2021, the company received a EUR 200m growth funding round from US investment fund Marlin Equity Partners.

(Photo courtesy of the company)