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= October (Company) = October (formerly Lendix)is a European FinTech company specialising in loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Founded by Olivier Goy in 2014, October is currently based in Paris, Milan, Madrid, Amsterdam and Munich. October’s services enable SMEs to obtain loans from 3 types of lenders: private lenders, institutional investors and October’s management.

Operation
October's institutional lenders and management invest in a fund to ensure the alignment of interests. The fund finances at least 51% of each loan submitted on the platform. Individual lenders can grant loans to the same project with the same conditions. If there are not enough private lenders, the fund covers what remains of the loan amount. Institutional investors subscribe to an investment fund, which is managed by October Factory, an asset management company authorised by the AMF. Private lenders subscribe through October IFP, a Crowdfunding Intermediary registered with ORIAS.

2.1 Creation
Olivier Goy, founder of October, established 123 Investment Managers in 2001: a management company aimed at democratising unlisted investments and introducing them to private investors. October, which was formerly called Lendix, is the second company founded by Olivier Goy with the objective of providing loans to VSEs and SMEs. The first loan was granted in April 2015 to Alain Ducasse Entreprise for the financing of three Parisian restaurants and La Manufacture de Chocolat Alain Ducasse. In March 2016, the company acquired Finsquare and obtained the approval of the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF). The platform was launched in Italy and Spain in 2017. In July 2017, the European Investment Bank (EIB), through the European Investment Fund (EIF), joined the platform with the aim of increasing financing for French and European companies to EUR 18.5 million.

New name and expansion in the Netherlands and Germany (2018-2019)
By September 2018, October had financed 480 projects from different European companies (e.g., 5àsec, Saint-Jean Industries , Reworld Media  , Novae Aerospace  or Hard Rock Café . In October 2018, Lendix changed its name to October and was included in the Global 100 Leading Fintech Rankings conducted by KPMG and H2 Ventures.

In 2018, October was launched in the Netherlands, and in 2019 in Germany. In December 2019, October signed the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment.

2.3 Launch of October connect and Management Shift (2021)
In February 2021, October granted a loan of 38 million to VSEs and SMEs in the French tourism industry that were affected by the Covid-19 crisis. In 2021, October launched October Connect, a technology platform aimed at integrating the credit analysis of financial institutions. The October Connect platform uses customer and prospect data to optimise the credit process of SMEs. From November 2021, Olivier Goy takes over as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of October; Patrick de Nonneville takes over as CEO of the company, Thorsten Seeger becomes COO and remains CEO of October Germany.

Institutional Investors
October accounts for 70 institutional investors, including the European Investment Bank, BpiFrance, Groupama, CNP assurances, Matmut and Eiffel Investment Group. October's European institutional investors include the European Investment Fund (EIF), French or Spanish public banks, private banks, insurance companies, family offices and high net worth individuals. The funds raised by October, which amount to more than €600m, have been awarded the European Long Term Investment Fund (ELTIF) label, created by the EU to sustainably support the real economy. Fund I - €21.3M Fund II - €93.8M Fund III - €163.7 Fund IV - €134.7M SFIDO - €200M Tourism Fund - €38M

Rankings and Awards
In 2017, 2018 and 2019, October entered the Fintech100 ranking by KPMG and H2 Ventures. In 2020 and 2021, October entered Next40, an overview of the 40 most promising and innovative French startups. October Netherlands was named Top Pick 2020 in the category of crowdfunding platforms by the independent experts of IEX Gouden Stier.