The prêt d’honneur (honour loan) in France: conditions, amounts and how to get one

The amounts, terms and conditions quoted here are those the networks published on their websites at the time of writing. They vary between local associations and change over time. Check them with the organisation covering your area before you build your financing plan.

What is a prêt d’honneur?

A prêt d’honneur is a medium-term loan granted to a person who is starting, taking over or growing a business. It is paid out by an association or a business support network, not by a bank. Three features set it apart from a standard loan.

• It is personal. It is granted to you, not to the company. You then put it into your company, usually as share capital or as a shareholder’s current account (compte courant d’associé).
• It is interest-free. You only repay the amount you borrowed.
• It requires no personal guarantee. You are not asked for a guarantor or a pledge: you give your word of honour that you will repay it.

Because it is lent to you personally, the loan strengthens your personal contribution (apport personnel), meaning the money you put into the project yourself. That is what makes it useful when you apply for a bank loan.

An honour loan is still a loan. It is repaid in monthly instalments, out of your personal income or the pay the company gives you. So build it into your numbers from the start.

Why it makes a bank loan easier to get

A bank looks at how much of the project you are funding yourself. With a small contribution, the risk it carries is high. The honour loan increases that contribution without putting debt on the company. This is called the leverage effect: a modest sum helps you secure larger bank financing.

The networks publish their own figures. Initiative France says the bank grants, on average, a loan 9.5 times larger than the honour loan. Réseau Entreprendre, in its Panorama 2025, reports a leverage effect of 11: around €370,000 raised on average, excluding the honour loan. These are averages across supported projects, not a promise for yours.

A favourable opinion from a committee also counts. It tells the banker that business owners and finance professionals have already examined the project. To see what a bank adviser checks on their side, read what a banker looks at.

The main networks and their published amounts

Several networks grant honour loans in France. Each has its own target groups, amounts and way of supporting founders. The table below only includes the figures published on their websites.

Initiative France

Initiative France is a network of local associations known as “plateformes”. It supports projects to start, take over or grow a business, in every sector. The loan averages €10,000 and is repayable over 3 to 5 years. Local averages differ: some associations publish their own ranges and terms. Follow-up, including mentoring, lasts for the whole repayment period.

Réseau Entreprendre

Réseau Entreprendre targets projects with job-creation potential: founders, buyers of existing businesses, startups, social enterprises. Amounts depend on the local branch and the programme. Réseau Entreprendre Paris, for example, publishes a loan of €15,000 to €40,000, repayable over 3 years, for its launch programme. According to the Panorama 2025, 95% of its laureates receive one. Each laureate is then supported for 2 years by a business owner from the network, with monthly meetings.

France Active

France Active offers a zero-interest personal loan to people starting, taking over or growing a business, especially when they lack equity. The amount depends on personal and regional criteria and varies from one branch to another. The loan is usually paired with a bank loan. Ask your regional branch for the detailed conditions.

Bpifrance’s Création-Reprise honour loan

Bpifrance (the French public investment bank) does not deal directly with founders for this loan. It funds it, and partner networks distribute it. It ranges from €1,000 to €80,000, over 1 to 7 years, with a possible repayment deferral of 0 to 24 months. It is reserved for individuals who are tax-resident in France, supported by a network, shareholders in the company and not listed on the French register of credit repayment incidents. Some sectors and legal forms are excluded, such as associations and SCIs (property-holding companies).

The honour loan is only one piece of your funding. To see how it fits with your own contribution, a bank loan and public aid, read our guide on how to fund a startup in France.

Who is eligible?

Each network sets its own criteria. A few points come up often:

• You are an individual starting, taking over or growing a business, often a recent one.
• The project is located in the area covered by the local association.
• You hold shares in the company: this is a condition of Bpifrance’s Création-Reprise loan, which excludes someone who is only the legal representative.
• The project needs additional funding, often from a bank.
• You accept the support that comes with the loan.

Some networks have priority groups. France Active pays particular attention to jobseekers and to projects in priority urban areas. Réseau Entreprendre targets job-creating projects. Initiative France says its loan is available without a means test. If your project ticks several boxes, contact each network: some work together on the same application.

How does an honour loan application work?

1. First contact. You book a meeting with the local association. A project officer or volunteer business owners listen to your project and check that it fits their remit.
2. Building the application. You work with the project officer on the project presentation and the financial forecast. This stage can take several weeks.
3. The committee. You present your project to a committee, called the comité d’agrément at Initiative France and the comité d’engagement at Réseau Entreprendre. It brings together business owners, bankers, chartered accountants or volunteer executives.
4. The decision. The committee grants the loan, adjusts it, turns it down or asks for more information. At Réseau Entreprendre, the decision to support a project is unanimous.
5. Payment and support. The network sets how the loan is paid out. A mentor or adviser then follows you: for the whole repayment period at Initiative France, for 2 years at Réseau Entreprendre.

Mentoring is not a formality. It is a business owner helping you step back from your decisions. Come to the meetings with your numbers and your questions, as you would with a business partner.

Preparing for the committee

The format varies between associations, but it often follows the same pattern: a short presentation, then questions. Members have usually received your file before the meeting, and they want to hear you defend it. They look at the person as much as at the numbers.

The documents to prepare

Initiative France describes the application as a written presentation of the project and a costed financial forecast, prepared with the adviser. In practice, plan for:

• A short business plan: the business, the customers, the market, the competition, your background.
• A three-year financial forecast, with a month-by-month cash flow plan for the first year and the assumption written next to each figure.
• A financing plan: the total requirement, and opposite it your contribution, the honour loan requested, the bank loan and any aid.
• Supporting documents: quotes, a draft lease, letters of intent from customers, and the accounts of the business you are taking over if relevant.

Questions that often come up

• Why you, and why this project now?
• Who are your first customers, and how do you know?
• How did you calculate your first-year revenue?
• What will you live on while the business gets going?
• What happens if sales come in six months later than planned?
• How will you repay the honour loan, and out of which income?
• Where are you with your bank application?

Initiative France advises being open about the project’s weaknesses. A committee quickly spots a weak point. It is better to name it yourself and explain how you are dealing with it.

Rehearse before the day

Ask the association how long the presentation lasts, then time yourself. Have someone who doesn’t know your trade ask you the questions above. If an answer takes you more than a minute, rewrite it. To test the strength of the idea itself, read our method for evaluating your business idea.

Mistakes to avoid

• Coming too early. Without a forecast or first customer contacts, the committee cannot judge. It will ask you to come back.
• Coming too late. If the lease is signed and the equipment ordered, the committee can no longer shape the project. Some networks also require the business to be under a certain age.
• Forgetting the honour loan instalment. It comes out of your personal income. It must appear in your budget.
• Inflating sales. An unsupported assumption shows. Use a cautious figure and say what it is based on.
• Not having talked to the bank. The honour loan is often used to secure a bank loan. The committee will want to know where that conversation stands.
• Reading out your file. The committee has already read it. Tell the story of the project and keep the key figures in your head.

Key takeaways

To move forward on the documents for your application, you can also prepare your project with Prelud: memorandum, business plan, pitch deck and one-pager.

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