After a career in market finance, Maeva Courtois, a graduate of INSA Rouen, embarked on an ambitious project: that of creating a green bank. With Julia Ménayas (HEC Paris), the two entrepreneurs founded Hélios, an ecobank which today brings together 15,000 customers.
The journey of Maeva Courtois
What is your academic background?
I did a scientific preparation before joining INSA Rouen. Although the school is quite general, I specialized in mathematics and computer science. I had the chance to go on an exchange at UQAM [au Canada, NDLR] in order to specialize in financial mathematics. When I returned, I completed my end-of-studies internship at Banque Postale where I worked in market finance in order to structure financial products, covered bonds.
So you started your career in the world of market finance?
After my studies, I joined ODDO BHF, a Franco-German investment bank where I worked in quantitative trading. I implemented trading algorithms to automate part of the management decisions. Then I joined Exane Asset Management, a French hedge fund. It was at this time that Asset Managers saw their profession evolve with the consideration of ESG criteria. Exane suggested that I create the sustainable finance division and implement the ESG strategy in order to better take these criteria into account in the selection of portfolios.
When did the entrepreneurial click happen?
After two I had Exane, I left the company to found Hélios. I realized that it was essential to finance the real economy and to stop financing polluting companies which do not position their activity towards a low-actor transition. The bank is the key player in guiding what the world of tomorrow will be and I was dissatisfied, when meeting the banks and Asset Managers, to see how they integrated ESG criteria. It was more marketing than strategy.
We can really have a tenfold impact if we use the rules of capitalism and banking to finance good companies and thus direct money towards projects that work for the ecological transition.
Everything you need to know about Hélios, the ecobank
Can you tell us more about your partner?
I created Hélios in 2020 with Julia Ménayas. She graduated from HEC Paris and obtained a double degree with Sciences Po. She also completed her exchange in Canada, within McGill and built her career in Venture Capital. We joined forces in 2020 with the aim of creating a new banking model dedicated to financing ecological projects.
Helios, what is it?
Helios is an ecobank, a new banking model dedicated to financing the ecological transition, which produces several banking products: youth accounts, joint accounts and savings accounts and soon life insurance. Our ambition is to replace traditional banks with the certainty, for the client, that Hélios will not finance activities linked to global warming, but projects that accelerate the ecological transition. We offer our products to all individuals and self-employed people over 18 years old, throughout France.
What you need to know is that, thanks to impact reports which evaluate the tonnes of CO2 emitted when you deposit €1 into an account, we can see that traditional banks are polluting. According to reports managed by Carbone 4, the most polluting is SG with 3.25 tonnes of CO2 emitted per year for €5,000 deposited into an account. At Hélios, our customers emit 700kg annually for the same amount.
Many neo-banks have developed in recent years. Didn’t that scare you into positioning yourself in this sector?
No, we weren’t afraid to get started on the subject. Until now, innovation in banking has been purely technological. Neo-banks, sometimes attached to large groups, have developed with a value proposition around a smoother and more autonomous user experience, and a proposition linked to costs.
We offer a bank that has a real societal impact and role, and not just a commercial one. We are addressing all those who want to act in a world marked by a climate crisis that can no longer be ignored. We have to take over the world we live in. If we want to be able to do things, we must act on the money in circulation and offer new products that allow us to consume differently, such as organic products.
The development of Helios
You were talking about life insurance, what are your major plans for Hélios for 2023?
This year we launched life insurance and we hope to offer the Retirement Savings Plan by the end of the year. We also focus on monitoring and management tools for individuals. The goal is to help them see their biggest spending items, but also whether the merchants they buy from are ethical. We want to create a closed economy around consumption and sustainable financing.
We will also work on the internationalization of Hélios in 2024. Next year, we plan to open new countries in Europe. The first will be Spain. Today, Hélios has 15,000 customers, we are aiming for 30,000 by the end of the year and 100,000 by the end of 2024.
What will Hélios look like in 3 years?
Our goal is to create a suite of products that are sustainable and have the capacity to replace a traditional bank. We are developing according to the pyramid of needs: payment, savings, investment and personal loans. We intend to launch into this subject with offers on specific projects such as thermal renovation of housing, bicycles, then, in the longer term, we wish to offer real estate credit.
Female entrepreneurship
Hélios was founded by two women, in an environment, entrepreneurship, predominantly female. Have you ever encountered issues related to your gender?
No. For us, it was never a problem and we didn’t really think about it. I come from a predominantly male background with engineering school, then market finance. Julia was very aware of this and realized that investment funds are mainly made up of men. Behind this, there is an additional bias: men raise more money than women. In reality, it’s a more global subject, investors are looking for people who look like them and they are mostly men. They sometimes have more confidence in projects that are carried out by men.
We’ve been lucky enough not to feel it, but we see the numbers. There are few women in Tech today and even fewer in FinTechs.
Is the commitment to parity a subject on which you work at Hélios?
It is something that makes sense in the culture of our society, but does not need to have clear rules. We are fortunate to have been able to carry out recruitment without necessarily creating rules. Today, we are at parity in terms of recruitment.
