Cyril Chiche and Antoine Porte launched Lydia in 2013. The app let one person send money to another using only a phone number, free for the sender. It suited students and young workers who owed small sums to friends.
Lydia then added a payment card, accounts, savings and subscriptions. In January 2020 Tencent led a €40 million Series B, an unusual backer for a French payments company.
In December 2021 an Accel-led $100 million Series C valued Lydia above $1 billion, making it a French unicorn. Orange and Xavier Niel's Kima are also investors.
Between 2022 and 2024 the company expanded into the Sumeria card and Lydia Premium subscriptions, facing competition from Revolut, N26 and Qonto. It is headquartered in Paris and privately held.