“Bonne-Nouvelle” for Qonto. The French fintech has moved to the Grands Boulevards, in Paris’s 10th arrondissement, as the new school year gets underway. After seeing Swile move into brand-new 3,500-square-meter offices on Rue de Navarin in Pigalle a year ago, Alexandre Prot’s company did not remain Loïc Soubeyrand’s neighbor for long.

Qonto’s headquarters are now located on Impasse de Bonne-Nouvelle, in a huge circular building that previously housed a post office. In this ultra-modern flagship designed to showcase its ambitions, the French company has taken over 11,000 square meters across nine floors, with the highlight being a rooftop offering a 360-degree panoramic view of Paris. The building includes 900 workstations, roughly matching Qonto’s workforce in France, 55 meeting rooms, 90 phone booths and two conference spaces capable of accommodating up to 425 people.

With this new headquarters, Qonto not only wants to provide its employees with the best possible working environment, but also to assert its strength in the market and become the go-to financial infrastructure for SMEs, small businesses and self-employed professionals. To turn this ambition into reality, the French fintech notably raised €486 million in January 2022, bringing its valuation to €4.4 billion. With this deal, Qonto became the largest French unicorn at the time.

When the funding round was announced, the company had hoped to surpass the one-million-customer mark this year, but that milestone has ultimately been pushed back. Qonto has opted to slow its growth rate to avoid overextending itself amid a tense economic and political environment in France and Europe. Today, the fintech claims more than 750,000 business customers across eight European countries (France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal).

Qonto’s move into its new headquarters therefore marks a milestone in its quest to reach one million customers, but also signals a change in status. During the short keynote held to mark the inauguration, which Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire attended, Alexandre Prot, Qonto’s co-founder and CEO, was very clear: “We are entering a new chapter to become a bank.”

With this in mind, the fintech submitted an application for a banking license to the French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR) in summer 2025. With this valuable license, Qonto will be able to enter the long-term lending market. In addition to loans, the company will be able to launch savings and investment products. This would be a major step toward boosting its credibility and expanding further across Europe. For now, Qonto is gaining market share through its business creation solution. The fintech recently rolled it out in Italy and the Netherlands. In France, one in four companies is now created using Qonto.