Yuccan Lead is a start-up that offers customer recommendation software. The objective is to make the customer experience an ambassador. A sponsorship program that rewards customer recommendations for a craftsman, a real estate agency, a kitchen designer or other everyday service providers. The company recently raised 840,000 euros to establish itself sustainably in North America and become a benchmark in the sector. Find our interview with Baptiste Vandenborghtco-founder of Yuccan Lead.
Who is Baptiste Vandenborght, CEO of Yuccan?
I am Susi Baptiste, co-founder of Yuccan. I have technical experience, in IT infrastructure and software, and I worked for several years for SMEs or IT departments of large companies (Aéroports de Paris, Francis Lefebvre Avocats).
A few years ago, I discovered entrepreneurship in more depth during a trip to the United States, to Southern California. I worked for a leading software (SaaS) company in San Diego. At the time, we were focused on a specific industry (solar panel installation and maintenance) and were helping hundreds of businesses across the United States get more customers through digital word of mouth. I found the idea fantastic and the concept far too underestimated in France, which made me want to import it when I returned.
Everything you need to know about Yuccan Lead
What does Yuccan Lead do? What are your first achievements?
We provide a SaaS which allows companies to build a personalized referral program for their activities (Refer-a-Friend type), with a dedicated mobile application where individuals can recommend friends and relatives to professionals referenced in this mobile application.
When referrals are successful, individuals are rewarded in cash (bank transfer), which is much more attractive to people than the usual gifts from traditional referral programs (gift cards, champagne, etc.).
Yuccan is a way for businesses to generate very high quality leads through word of mouth (our product offers an average conversion rate of 30% compared to 1-2% on other channels).
Our first achievements speak for themselves: nearly €1M in sponsorship bonuses paid on the platform since the beginning (i.e. more than €20M in new business generated thanks to word of mouth) and this figure increases every year ; we had 200% growth for 2023.
Why did you decide to bring business angels and side capital into your capital?
Not only was our intention to obtain funding, but we also wanted to be surrounded by experienced and successful entrepreneurs, such as Renaud Guillerm (the managing partner of SIDE Capital), who successfully sold a company to LeBonCoin before launching its own fund.
Business angels also bring this type of expertise to us, and we have created a board of directors for Yuccan with highly qualified members who will help us take the next step.
What will Yuccan Lead look like in 5 years?
We have accomplished so much in just 3 years that I could say anything is possible; That said, our goal is to reach the top of recommendation marketing software, at least in France and, we hope, in North America, which is a market we will target in the years to come.
