The regulatory approval letter arrived in March. For Hugo Jenny and Bastien Davalos, co-founders of Mirabelle, it represented more than bureaucratic clearance—it was a countdown clock. France's banking regulator had just granted their Paris-based fintech the license to originate reverse mortgages, a financial product long relegated to the margins of French finance. The catch? Every major bank in the country appears to be waking up to the same opportunity.
Mirabelle announced this week that it has closed a €6 million seed round, bringing its total capital raised to €7.3 million since inception. The financing, disclosed April 14, arrived alongside the French banking authority's (ACPR) authorization—secured the month prior—to begin lending as a regulated société de financement. It's a milestone the startup needs. Because while Mirabelle positions itself as France's first independent lender dedicated exclusively to prêt viager hypothécaire—reverse mortgages—the window for upstarts may be closing faster than expected.
Traditional players are circling. BPCE, the sprawling banking consortium that operates Caisses d'Épargne and Banques Populaires, announced plans to roll out reverse mortgages across its branch network starting in 2025. Crédit Foncier, which dominated the market until its 2018 wind-down, left a void that lay dormant for years. Now everyone wants in.
Money, Margins, and a March Toward Scale
The seed round drew an eclectic mix of backers—some from fintech circles, others squarely from the so-called silver economy. New investors include Groupe Renée Costes, a viager brokerage with deep roots in life annuity sales; OCIRP, a social protection institution; and Groupe Intériale, a mutual insurer. Returning participants—Groupe Elvest (the investment firm formerly known as Inter Invest), Mindstone (a family office led by entrepreneur Christophe Eberlé), Groupe Edgide, and angel investor Eric Viet—doubled down.
Half the capital will fund customer acquisition and a physical presence. Mirabelle plans to open a walk-in agency in Paris, hire roughly ten employees, and invest in marketing that can reach an older demographic not always comfortable transacting entirely online. The other half? Regulatory own funds. The ACPR doesn't hand out lending licenses without assurances that a firm can absorb losses, and reverse mortgages—where repayment comes only at death or property sale—tie up capital for years, sometimes decades.
Distribution will run two tracks: direct, through Mirabelle's digital platform and its own advisors, and indirect, via partners Renée Costes and Elvest. Both now hold equity stakes, a strategic alignment that also creates potential channel conflict down the line. Partnerships in financial services can be elegant in PowerPoint, messier in practice.
The Product Itself: Liquidity, Locked Homes, and a Long Wait
Here's what Mirabelle is selling. Homeowners aged 60 or older can borrow against their property—typically up to half its appraised value. Loan sizes range from €25,000 to €3 million. Borrowers take the money as a lump sum, a lifelong annuity (through an insurance partner), or some combination. Interest compounds annually but isn't due until the borrower dies or sells the home. Heirs are protected under French law: the debt can never exceed the property's value.
It sounds straightforward, but it's actuarially intricate. Lenders must forecast mortality, property appreciation, and interest rate shifts—all while tying up capital that won't return for years. Early repayment is allowed, though few seniors likely opt for it. Mirabelle says the process, from online simulation to notary signing, takes around three months. Whether that timeline holds as volume scales remains to be seen.
Timing the Market (or Hoping To)
The demographic argument is compelling, if obvious. Roughly 73% of French residents over 60 own their homes, a figure cited by various players in the space. Many are asset-rich and cash-poor—the classic reverse mortgage use case. They want to age in place, fund renovations, help grandchildren, or simply supplement retirement income without selling the family home.
Le Parisien reported in March 2025 that France's reverse mortgage market, languishing around €100 million in annual volume, could swell to €4 billion by 2030 and €8 billion by 2035. Those are projections, not guarantees, but they've caught the attention of boardrooms. BPCE's deployment plans signaled that incumbent banks are no longer content to cede the field.
Mirabelle isn't the only fintech betting on this wave. Jubilé, a competitor, secured its own ACPR approval and raised €3 million in June 2025, positioning itself prominently as a reverse mortgage lender. Arrago offers a related product branded as Prêt 60. The race is on, and it's not entirely clear how many independent lenders the market can sustain once banks begin leveraging their branch networks and balance sheets.
What the ACPR Authorization Really Means
Obtaining regulatory clearance as a société de financement took Mirabelle roughly a year, culminating in the March 2026 green light. It wasn't a formality. France's framework for reverse mortgages is strict by design: no door-to-door sales, mandatory disclosure periods, and consumer protections that tilt decisively toward borrowers and their heirs. The ACPR's scrutiny extends to governance, risk models, and capitalization—areas where fintechs, however well-intentioned, sometimes stumble.
The authorization allows Mirabelle to originate loans and hold them on its balance sheet, a privilege that separates regulated lenders from intermediaries who merely broker deals. It also means ongoing supervision, capital requirements, and quarterly reporting. For a startup, that's both a moat and a burden.
The Walk-In Bet
Mirabelle's decision to open a physical Parisian agency is revealing. Digital-first fintechs often resist the overhead of real estate and staff, but reverse mortgages may demand a different approach. The target customer base—retirees in their sixties, seventies, and beyond—grew up in a world of bank branches and face-to-face advisors. Trust, in this cohort, isn't always won via chatbots and slick apps.
The company joined France FinTech and the Silver Alliance in January 2025, moves that suggest ambitions beyond pure lending. Shaping policy, influencing perception around aging and financial services, building a brand that doesn't feel predatory—all of that takes time and credibility. A physical presence helps, perhaps more than the founders initially expected.
What Happens Next (and What Could Go Wrong)
Mirabelle is live. Capital is in the bank. Regulatory hurdles are cleared. But the hard part—building a sustainable business before incumbents crush the margins—has only just begun.
Reverse mortgages are capital-intensive. Each loan ties up funds for an unknowable duration. Mirabelle will need to either raise far more equity or securitize its loan book to free up capital for growth. Securitization markets for reverse mortgages exist, but they're niche and can be skittish. If interest rates shift unexpectedly, or if property values in France's aging regions decline, the unit economics can turn ugly fast.
There's also the reputational risk. Reverse mortgages, in markets like the U.S., have a checkered history—associated in some quarters with predatory lending, confused heirs, and homes lost. France's regulatory guardrails are tighter, but perception matters. One high-profile dispute could spook an entire generation of potential borrowers.
Still, the window is open. For now. Jenny and Davalos have bought themselves runway and, crucially, a regulated foothold in a market that didn't really exist two years ago. Whether that's enough to fend off banks with centuries of history and billions in assets? That's the bet.
And like any good wager on demographic inevitability, it'll take years to know if they were early visionaries—or just early.
