Lydia, the mobile payment application is booming, this is how this flagship of French Tech explodes

“Shall I make you a Lydia?” The expression has become almost common. Especially since the health crisis and the explosion of mobile payments, as well as for all instant transfers. Created in 2013, the Lydia online payment application now attracts more than 5.5 million users.

A huge leap forward for this French company, which intends to continue its development to increase from 160 to 1,000 employees by the end of 2025. For this, this flagship of French Tech has set up part of its offices in Nantes a few years ago. days, after Bordeaux (in 2019) and Lyon (in 2021), history of expanding outside the Parisian capital. Cyril Chiche, CEO of the start-up, does not intend to stop there. “We are just starting our recruitment. The goal is that we quickly reach 70 and then 100 people in Nantes, ”he explains.

A new strategy, which he explains in detail: “This makes it possible to attract more local talent, which we would not have interested if they did not want to telework. And it also helps attract people who want to go to work in Nantes, for example. It’s a big project. We went to meet the local ecosystem before coming ”. Lydia selects her cities based on around fifteen criteria. The dynamism around digital technology, the presence of the grandes écoles and the employment pool are part of it. These provincial branches bring together different businesses: development, marketing, customer service, etc. By 2025, the size of the company will be multiplied by six.

Trading accessible to all

Proof of this boom of Lydia: the company became the 22nd unicorn of French Tech, last December, exceeding the billion dollars of valuation. Especially since the application also continues to develop, turning to trading. A new feature that allows users of the app to invest in cryptocurrencies, companies (American and European including the entire CAC40), precious metals, or baskets of shares.

Above all, they can invest from 1 euro. One way to make trading accessible to everyone. “It’s an obsession for us. There is a big difference between having money and being able to dispose of it. We are still the only ones to make loans for which the availability of money is instantaneous. It changes everything! », Boasts Cyril Chiche. “To think that we can invest money in a large French energy group, for example, with the money from a beer that we have been reimbursed … This is the spirit of Lydia”, completes Antoine Porte, co-founder of the app. Lydia has not finished talking about her. Investing in the financial markets becomes just as easy as “doing a Lydia”.