How to fund a startup in France: your options, step by step

The schemes described here change over time and each organisation applies its own criteria. This guide gives general pointers; it is not a substitute for personalised advice.

Funding your startup: start from what you need

Before looking for funders, work out what you have to pay for to get started. There are two main items. Capital expenditure is what you buy to last: equipment, building work, a vehicle, a website. Working capital is the money you have to put up before you get paid: stock, rent paid in advance, the first months of salaries, the time your customers take to pay you.

Add a cash buffer, meaning money set aside to keep going if sales come in later than planned. The total is your funding requirement. Opposite it, you list your resources: your own contribution, loans, public aid. This two-column table is called a financing plan (plan de financement). Both columns must add up to the same total.

These figures rest on sales and spending assumptions. Our guide to financial forecasts explains how to set them and back them up.

Your own money and money from family and friends

Your personal contribution

Your personal contribution (apport personnel) is the money you put into the project yourself: savings, severance pay, equipment you already own. It counts twice. It reduces how much you need to borrow, and it shows lenders that you are sharing the risk. No common rule sets the expected level; it depends on the bank, the sector and the project.

“Love money”

Love money is the French term for money put in by family and friends. It can take three forms: a gift, a loan, or a stake in your company. Each has its own rules.

• A family loan: put it in writing, stating the amount, the term and how it will be repaid. When the total borrowed in a year exceeds €5,000, the loan must be declared to the French tax authorities on form no. 2062.
• A gift: it does not have to be repaid, but it falls under the tax rules on gifts (donations). Check them before accepting it.
• Taking a stake: the relative or friend becomes a shareholder. They share in the decisions set out in the articles of association, and in the risk of losing their money if the business fails.

Whatever the form, be frank about the risk. Anyone close to you needs to know they may never see their money again.

The honour loan: topping up your contribution

A prêt d’honneur, or honour loan, is a personal loan granted to the founder rather than to the company, interest-free and with no collateral required. The founder then puts it into the business, which increases its equity. It is awarded by business support networks, notably Initiative France and Réseau Entreprendre, after you pitch to a committee of business owners, bankers and experts.

According to Bpifrance Création (the start-up information service of Bpifrance, the French public investment bank), amounts range from €3,000 to €50,000 at Initiative France (€10,000 on average) and from €15,000 to €50,000 at Réseau Entreprendre for a new business. These networks say that each euro of honour loan comes with several euros of bank lending on average: 9.5 euros according to Initiative France, 13 euros according to Réseau Entreprendre. An honour loan is still a loan: you repay it out of your personal income.

Our dedicated guide to the honour loan covers preparing the application and pitching to the committee.

Bank loans and the Bpifrance guarantee

A business bank loan usually funds the largest share of capital expenditure. The bank lends to the company, which repays a monthly instalment made up of capital and interest. The adviser looks mainly at one thing: once expenses are paid and you have drawn your own pay, will the business leave enough to cover that instalment?

To share its risk, the bank may request a Bpifrance guarantee. It is the bank that applies for it, not you. According to Bpifrance Création, the start-up guarantee covers up to 60% of the loan amount for SMEs under three years old, whether newly created, taken over or franchised. A fee is charged, paid by the bank or by the borrower. The guarantee does not release you from repaying: if the company defaults, it is the bank that is partly compensated, not you. It generally limits the personal guarantees you are asked to give.

To find out how the meeting goes and which documents to bring, read what a banker looks at in a project.

Public aid for new businesses

Start-up aid either lowers your social charges or pays you a lump sum when you launch. Two national schemes are often confused: ACRE and ARCE.

ACRE, a partial exemption from social contributions

ACRE (aide aux créateurs et repreneurs d’entreprise, aid for people who start or take over a business) gives a partial exemption from social security contributions during the first year of trading. The scheme was tightened on 1 January 2026. It is no longer automatic: you must apply to the Urssaf (the body that collects social contributions) within 60 days of starting your business, using the form for your legal status.

Eligible groups are listed on the official information page: notably jobseekers receiving unemployment benefit, some jobseekers who are not, recipients of the RSA or the ASS (French minimum income and solidarity allowances), young people aged 18 to 25, and businesses set up in certain urban priority areas or rural zones. You must not have received it in the previous three years. The level of exemption was also reduced in 2026; check the current conditions on the Urssaf or Entreprendre.Service-Public websites before building your forecast around it.

ARCE, a lump sum for jobseekers

ARCE (aide à la reprise ou à la création d’entreprise) is for people receiving unemployment benefit (ARE) who start or take over a business. It turns part of your remaining entitlement into a lump sum: 60% of the entitlement still due when you start trading, minus a 3% deduction for supplementary pensions. It is paid in two instalments, half at the start and the rest six months later, subject to conditions. To qualify, you must have been granted ACRE.

The alternative is to keep receiving your monthly benefit alongside your first earnings, under the combination rules of France Travail (the French public employment service). The choice depends on what you need: an immediate lump sum to top up your contribution, or a steady income to see you through the early months.

Regional aid and grants

Regions, départements and some groups of municipalities offer their own aid: grants, repayable advances, zero-interest loans, sometimes restricted to one sector or area. They change often and differ from one region to the next. Ask your chamber of commerce or chamber of trades, or a business support network. A grant is usually paid against receipts, sometimes after the spending: make sure you can front the money.

Crowdfunding: donations, loans or equity

Crowdfunding (financement participatif) means raising money from a large number of people, usually through an online platform. There are three forms, each regulated differently.

• Donations, with or without a reward: backers receive a thank-you, a product or a pre-order. Platforms for donations and interest-free loans hold the status of crowdfunding intermediary (IFP), which you can check on the Orias register.
• Interest-bearing loans: individuals lend to the company, which repays them with interest.
• Securities: individuals buy shares or bonds in the company.

For interest-bearing loans and securities, a European regulation has applied since 10 November 2021. Platforms must be authorised as crowdfunding service providers (PSFP in French, ECSP in the European text); in France, authorisation is granted by the AMF (the French financial markets regulator). A PSFP platform can host an offer of up to €5 million. Before choosing one, check its status on the AMF list or the ESMA register.

A campaign takes time: presenting the project, keeping the community engaged, answering questions. For backers, the AMF points out that a loan or a share purchase can lead to the loss of some or all of the money invested, and that the securities can be hard to sell.

Business angels and raising equity

Raising equity means bringing investors into your company’s share capital. They put in money in exchange for shares, and so for a share of ownership and often a say in major decisions. Business angels are individuals, often former executives, who invest their own money in young companies and sometimes add their advice and network.

This money is not repaid, but it has a price: you share the future value of the business. It suits projects aiming for fast growth that need sums loans will not cover. For investors, the risk of losing their capital is real, and a stake in a young company may be impossible to sell for a long time.

Some founders prefer to open their capital to their own community: customers, friends and family, their network. The company then remains the issuer of its offer and must follow the rules that govern raising money from investors. Prelud’s fundraising journey opens in December 2026 for this kind of raise.

Comparing your funding options

The table below sums up the options covered. Amounts are only given where an official body publishes them; elsewhere, they depend on the project.

In what order should you combine funding?

These options are not either/or: a financing plan often brings together three or four of them. The order matters, because each step makes the next one easier.

1. Work out what you need: capital expenditure, working capital, cash buffer.
2. Gather your equity: personal contribution, love money, and an honour loan to top up your contribution.
3. Approach the bank with that equity in hand, knowing it may request a Bpifrance guarantee.
4. Apply for aid on time: ACRE within 60 days of starting your business, ARCE if you receive ARE, regional aid according to its own calendar.
5. Consider crowdfunding or opening your capital if your needs exceed what loans cover, or if you want to involve your community.

General information. This guide does not replace advice from a chartered accountant, a lawyer or a bank adviser.