How EFSI benefits SMEs in Europe - Bpifrance case study: Réputation VIP (France), ICT

Who has not tried at least once to look up the information about them that can be found online? It is a fact that in our daily lives, we have the possibility to order the information we choose to give to others, while in our online life, things are not quite the same and a series of algorithms on the chosen search engine decides for us what will be depicted first.

In refusing to become victims of one’s online reputation without being able to control it, the idea came to Bertrand Girin and four others to create Réputation VIP, an online reputation management company, whose aim is to control and manage one’s online reputation. “The client will be able to choose what information he wants to see first online”, summarizes Bertrand during an interview with BFM Business.

Closely monitoring the EU’s directives on data protection, Bertrand and his team of 32 employees have also launched the website https://forget.me/ to help clients to optimize their wish to remove online links on certain search engines like Google or Bing.

For the future, Bertrand wants his company to develop further within the international market, especially in the UK, Spain and Germany, as currently 25% of the company’s annual turnover relies on the international market. To achieve the expected 50% in the upcoming years, Bertrand secured an EU-guaranteed loan provided by Bpifrance, the French public investment bank, and backed by EIF under the Investment Plan for Europe, which aims to generate new investments by facilitating access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises just like Bertrand’s.

Company: Réputation VIP (France)

Type of business: ICT

EIF financing: InnovFin SMEG, EFSI

For further information about EIF intermediaries in France, please refer to: http://www.eif.org/what_we_do/where/fr