Lydia raises €40 million Series B led by Tencent

French mobile payment company Lydia announced the completion of its €40 million Series B funding led by China-based tech company Tencent with participation from previous investors Open CNP by CNP Assurances, XAnge and New Alpha.

Established in 2013, the company will use the funding to scale its mobile financial services platform and expand across Europe.

With 3 million users in France and its brand being used as a verb for mobile P2P payments, Lydia has recently expanded its product offering to become a one-stop-shop application for financial life. Users can now get accounts, payment cards, loans, insurance, money pots, and gift cards; some products are developed in-house while others are provided by third-party partners.

“Today, 25% of 18 to 30 years-old in France have a Lydia account, and we built this powerful network effect engine with very little investment. With the new funding round and a partner like Tencent, who will help us save a lot of time and avoid costly mistakes in this scaling-up phase, we have all the reasons to be very ambitious. We are now in a position to challenge the traditional retail banking distribution model with a mobile platform model similar to what we see in sectors like retail, music or travel.” – Cyril Chiche, co-founder and CEO, Lydia.

“We’re glad to support Lydia’s vision in driving the cashless evolution in Europe. With its engaged user base and execution capability, we are confident that the company will capture the opportunities and become a European leader in mobile financial services.” – Ma Danying, Investment Director of Tencent.