Gautier Delabrousse-Mayoux, CEO of Iroko, invited by Frédéric Lassalle (VISCONTI partner).

In five years, he transformed a young savings fintech into a major player, reaching the symbolic milestone of one billion euros in assets under management.

Express growth, despite two major crises (Covid & real estate).

Focus on an enlightening trajectory and the levers that made it possible.

Who is Gautier Delabrousse-Mayoux?

Co-founder and CEO of Iroko, Gautier is an entrepreneur who is resolutely committed to action.

• He has accumulated ten years of entrepreneurship, is the father of three children, and is passionate about rugby and kitesurfing.
• But above all, he embodies a generation of CEOs who want to reinvent savings: simpler, more transparent, more efficient.

What is Iroko? And what market does it operate in?

Iroko is a savings fintech, specializing in accessible real estate products.
It benefits from AMF approval, which allows it to issue savings products to the general public and to manage long-term real estate portfolios.

Its flagship product? Iroko Zen, an innovative SCPI that allows everyone to invest in real estate without management constraints, since each saver entrusts their money to the management company, a team of professionals who manage the selection of properties, tenants and associates.

Its objective: to democratize a sector long reserved for a wealthy elite, with a positioning close to a family real estate company for all.

Who are Iroko's customers? In the current context do French and Europeans save?

Iroko appeals to a wide range of savers:

• Young active people who want to invest without locking up too much capital
• Seniors preparing for retirement
• Families who want to save for their children
• Businesses or associations looking for stable investments

Observation: the more instability increases, the more the French save.
And Iroko takes advantage of this with an offer that is legible, customizable, and well-calibrated in terms of risk.

Their technology allows them to manage specific cases and to address the savings market globally.

The latter has major entry barriers, especially approval. It is a fairly closed world in which there are few disruptions.

What is the status of Iroko today?

The savings market is in tension but remains dynamic.

On the other hand, real estate has experienced three extremely difficult years (rising rates, falling prices, distrust).
Where some funds wavered, Iroko consolidated its growth:

• 60 employees in Paris
• Opening of an office in Spain
• 3 savings products
• 1 billion assets under management
• 1 million savers served

Two milestones reached: that of €100M, which makes it possible to be a company under management, then that of the billion (change of scale).

So does Iroko have its own technological solutions?

From the start, Iroko made the choice not to depend on anyone:

• They have their own approvals,
  
  
• They developed their technology in-house,
  
  
• They control their value chain from end to end.
  

Objective: to offer savings that are simpler, more intuitive, more efficient and personalized.

Customers have clear access to their performance, can schedule their payments, sponsor, re-subscribe... in a few clicks.

A fluid and engaging user experience, far from the outdated tools of the sector.

This solution was an opportunity to revolutionize the market compared to Iroko's competitors.

One of the challenges ahead is to be even more ahead of them with Artificial Intelligence.

How did Iroko become the first independent player in the sector in barely five years by going through two major crises (the Covid crisis and the resulting real estate crisis)?

The timing was decisive, but above all well exploited. These two crises accelerated clarity for savers, who were able to distinguish good products from empty promises.

Their strength is based on three pillars:

1. Careful planning
   
   Even before the launch, the team spent 18 months preparing, building, and anticipating. This frustrating waiting time has turned into a strategic advantage: a clear vision, adapted tools, a team ready from the first customer.
   
   
2. Clarity on employees and the expected level
   
   People are at the heart of the project. Gautier and his associates quickly structured the team with the right talents and a high level of demand on skills and soft skills.
   
   
3. Diversity of talents
   
   By combining profiles from tech, wealth management and operations, Iroko was able to combine technological performance, organizational efficiency and service quality.

In summary: their secret sauce?

• A buoyant market, despite the turmoil
• A long-term vision and rigorous planning
• A top-level team, combining business expertise and tech skills
• Differentiating, digital products designed for the end user
• Assured strategic and operational autonomy: mastery of technology, approvals and capitalistic decisions

Iroko did not only meet market expectations. It has redefined its standards and has just passed the symbolic billion mark.

Iroko has just exceeded the symbolic billion in assets under management, what does that mean for Gautier?

For Gautier, crossing the billion euros under management marks the end of a first cycle.

“It was a goal that we set for 2027. We reached it earlier, but it's only the beginning.”

This milestone opens a new phase:

• Further structure the company, its teams and its processes
  
  
• Consolidating the existing while preparing for the future
  
  
• Exploring new savings markets, beyond real estate
  
  

Objective: capitalize on technological, human and financial assets to create new solutions in an increasingly complex world.

Iroko has just exceeded the symbolic billion in assets under management, what does that mean for Gautier?

For Gautier, crossing the billion euros under management marks the end of a first cycle.

It was an ambitious goal that they had set for 2027.

This milestone opens a new phase:

• Further structure the company, its teams and its processes
  
  
• Consolidating the existing while preparing for the future
  
  
• Exploring new savings markets, beyond real estate

Iroko has just bought the shares of one of its shareholders, Euraseo, while most scale-ups are opening their capital and are looking for fundraising.

What motivated them in this capital operation?

While the majority of scale-ups are continuing to raise funds and dilute their capital, Iroko has made the opposite choice: to buy the shares of Eurazeo, one of its historical shareholders.

The great value of Iroko is its teams and Gautier likes to align interests.

Thanks to this takeover involving employees and the management team, the company has acquired powerful managerial leverage.

This operation promotes employee loyalty and commitment, while being a major asset for recruitment.

They now have a competitive advantage in aligning talents and interests.

Behind this takeover, a strong conviction: it is not the extra money that creates value, but the ability to build a profitable and independent business.

In 2021, a fundraiser would have been possible. But Gautier and his partners preferred to maintain their strategic autonomy and pursue controlled growth in the long term.

What are Iroko's next challenges?

With a 10% market share, Iroko has already made an impression. But for Gautier, the real challenge starts now.

Among the priorities:

• Accelerate the transformation of the sector towards greater transparency: an evolution that he considers inevitable, and in which Iroko wants to play a leading role.
  
  
• Building an ever more multidisciplinary team, capable of combining tech, finance, product, compliance and customer experience.

What we remember about Gautier:

1. Have a clear and structured ambition from the start
   
   
2. Putting people at the heart of success
   
   
3. Recognize the need to raise the level of play of the management team in a context of hypergrowth and scale.

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