malibou

What do they actually do

Malibou provides a single web app for French SMEs to manage employee data, run payroll, and stay compliant. In practical terms, customers can onboard employees, handle leave and expenses, generate and distribute payslips, and file required social declarations (e.g., DPAE, DSN) from one place, with employees accessing their own portal YC profile malibou site.

A key part of the offer is human support: a dedicated French payroll expert reviews payroll, produces payslips monthly, and answers compliance questions, reflecting the complexity of operating across hundreds of French collective agreements YC profile malibou site.

Who are their target customer(s)

• Founders/CEOs of very small French companies (5–20 employees): They juggle payroll themselves or with an accountant and lose time on declarations and one‑off HR tasks; they want a single place to produce payslips and quick expert help instead of files and email threads.
• HR managers at growing SMBs (20–50 employees): They use disconnected tools (leave, expenses, payroll exports) that cause data friction and payroll mistakes; they need HR and payroll data linked so monthly close is reliable.
• Office managers / people-ops generalists in small teams: Non‑specialists fear making French compliance mistakes; they want an easy interface and fast access to a human expert for local rules.
• Accountants / external payroll partners serving multiple SMBs: They still exchange Excel and emails and can’t plug into most HR tools, making closes slow and error‑prone; they want structured inputs and to keep advisory work instead of manual formatting.
• HR leaders at multi‑site or larger SMBs (50+ employees): Multiple entities and collective agreements create complex rules and declarations; they need a payroll engine plus expert oversight that handles varied conventions without blowing up ops.

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Founder‑led outreach to YC network and French startup communities; target early adopters with painful payroll closes and run hands‑on pilots that include expert support and DSN setup.
• First 50: Leverage testimonials/case studies and founder content on French payroll pitfalls; partner with a few accountant firms to co‑serve mutual customers and migrate them off spreadsheets.
• First 100: Standardize onboarding/migration playbooks, add integrations (banking, expenses, accounting) and run targeted campaigns by headcount band and convention collective; incentivize referrals from accountants and existing customers.

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

France has about 159k SMEs excluding microenterprises and millions of microenterprises; payroll for SMEs is shaped by local compliance and 800+ collective agreements INSEE YC profile.

Bottom-up calculation:

URSSAF data show ~133.6k firms with 10–19 employees, 82.1k with 20–49, 25.4k with 50–99, and 14.5k with 100–249; plus ~1.30M firms <10 employees (we assume ~35% are 5–9). At a blended €15–€35 per employee per month for HR+payroll with expert support, and ~10M employees in 5–249 headcount firms (assumes ~50% of <10 bracket employees are in 5–9), TAM is roughly €2–€4B annually URSSAF My Payroll Pro France pricing PayFit pricing UK, indicative.

Assumptions:

• 35% of <10-employee companies are 5–9 employees; 50% of <10-employee bracket employees are in 5–9 firms (to estimate eligible headcount).
• All 5–249 employee firms are potential buyers for all‑in HR+payroll with expert support.
• Blended pricing benchmarked from French payroll outsourcing (€20–€70 PEPM) and SMB HRIS ranges (€8–€30 PEPM), using a conservative €15–€35 PEPM for TAM.

Who are some of their notable competitors

• PayFit: French-built all‑in‑one payroll + HR SaaS for SMBs; overlaps on payslips, payroll automation and HR workflows (leave, expenses), and is a go‑to for founders wanting to run payroll in one tool.
• ADP (France): Global payroll/HR provider offering outsourced payroll and complex compliance; appeals to companies that prefer a vendor to run payroll and handle declarations rather than an in‑house tool ADP France payroll overview.
• Sage (France): Legacy accounting and payroll vendor; used by accountants and SMBs where payroll ties closely to accounting and established vendor support.
• Lucca: French HRIS for core HR, leave, expenses with a “Payroll Assistant” workflow; often used as HR front‑end feeding payroll engines or accountants.
• Cegid: Large French HR/HCM and payroll vendor; strong on multi‑site and complex payrolls with broad regulatory coverage and support for many collective agreements.