Jump Raises $12.2 Million to Grow Platform for French Freelancers | PYMNTS.com

Jump has raised 11 million euros (about $12.2 million) to grow its platform that provides French freelancers with some of the benefits associated with traditional jobs.

These benefits include French CDI employment contracts, social protection, company health insurance and savings plans, Breega, which led the funding round for the French startup, said in a Monday (Sept. 23) post on LinkedIn translated from the French by that platform.

Jump also provides freelancers with payment processing, virtual cards and online activity tracking, according to the post. The company also recently added a free solution for freelancers who are just starting out: Jump Open.

“We’re redefining work by merging the flexibility of freelancing with comprehensive support,” Jump CEO Nicolas Fayon said in the post.

Jump currently serves 2,000 freelancers and 3,000 companies, according to the company’s website, translated by Google.

It offers its Jump Life plan at a fixed price of 149 euros ($166) a month on a monthly basis or 99 euros ($110) a month on an annual plan, per the site.

In its own post on LinkedIn, also translated from the French by LinkedIn, Jump said there are more than 4 million self-employed people in France, half of the members of Gen Z do not want a traditional permanent contract, and a quarter of young people say freelancing allows them to enjoy freedom in their professional career.

“This major fundraising will therefore allow Jump to deploy its model in France and Europe in order to allow the younger generations to reconcile their aspirations for freedom and their need for security (permanent contracts, social protection, employee savings, easier access to loans, removal of administrative burdens, etc.,” Jump said in the post.

In Europe, business banking can be a nightmare for entrepreneurs and solopreneurs as more established, traditional lenders often neglect individuals who do not have the typical 9-to-5 worker profile or a regular monthly paycheck, Alexandre Prot, co-founder of French neobank Qonto, told PYMNTS in an interview posted in February 2022.

In March, Qonto expanded the business finance solutions it offers small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and freelancers by adding an in-house financing offer called “Pay later.”