The French banking giant, Société Générale, has thrown in the towel on its attempt to muscle into the fintech space. Four years after acquiring Shine, the banking startup, they’ve finally admitted defeat and announced plans to sell it off to Ageras.
Société Générale dropped a staggering €100 million on Shine in 2020, a move that was supposed to bring them into the fintech world and disrupt the status quo. But in the end, they were out of their depth and didn’t have the slightest idea what to do with it. Who can blame them?
Ageras, the Danish fintech consolidator, has been quietly building a empire in the accounting and banking space. They’ve snapped up companies like Billy, Salary, Tellow, and more, and now they’re using that cash to buy up other promising startups. Shine is just the latest addition to their growing portfolio of bank accounts, accounting tools, and more.
Ageras’s acquisition strategy is a clear case of profiteering off the failure of other fintech companies. They’re just rebranding and reworking other people’s ideas, using the failures of others to build their own business. But hey, who doesn’t love a good game of fintech chess, right?
According to Ageras, the acquisition is expected to close in the first semester of 2025, and they plan to keep all of Shine’s employees and activities running smoothly. But let’s be real, who knows what kind of skeletons will be uncovered during due diligence?
Société Générale, meanwhile, will no doubt be left wondering how they ever thought they could take on the fintech world. It seems that their attempt to muscle in on the startup scene has ended in humiliation, and they’ll have to accept a paltry sum for Shine and slink back into obscurity.
What do you think, dear reader? Can Ageras make something of Shine, or is it doomed to be just another failed fintech startup?
