Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux: 3,000 euros for the Au Gré du Levain bakery
At the discretion of Levain is an eco-responsible bakery benefiting from the financial support and network of Cigales. Flavie Coudouin, baker, explains to us how her business was able to see the light of day in part thanks to the help of the investment club.
In September 2022, she joined forces with Emmanuel Chavanon to open the bakery At the discretion of Levain in Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux. Cigales supported them with a loan of 3,000 euros. Which are added to the 25,000 euros borrowed from the bank. “That’s not much for a bakery. We have a modest model: three batches per week. We mainly had to invest in a kneader, a beater, ladders and a car to deliver our orders”, justifies the baker.
“Very advantageous conditions”
The advantage of resorting to solidarity financing? A zero-rate loan without guarantee or insurance and an adjusted repayment period: three years. Flavie Coudouin confirms: “The conditions are very advantageous: it’s free to borrow from Cigales. With a bank loan, you start paying the next day when the company is not yet making any money”.
On the other hand, the help of the club is also fundamental in the network provided: “We are not entrepreneurs at the start. Meeting actors with a large network was essential, in addition to being helped by everyone’s expertise,” she explains. Aid made possible thanks to the criteria met by Emmanuel Chavanon and Flavie Coudouin, in particular the limitation of energy consumption and products from organic, local and traditional agriculture.
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