Impact France's finance and start-up proposals for the French Finance Bill

Last week, the government presented its draft budget for 2026. Against a backdrop of restoring public accounts, we are calling on you not to forget the entrepreneurs who are innovating to meet the country's social and ecological challenges.

Impact and SSE companies offer concrete solutions for the ecological transition, social cohesion and economic sovereignty. Yet their access to financing is still too restricted, and their model still insufficiently recognized by public policies.

We have several proposals for the 2026 budget that we have communicated to parliamentarians:

1. Improve tax conditions for start-ups that innovate with a social/environmental impact

Impact France is calling for better tax conditions for start-ups that carry out impact innovation and generate avoided costs for society: 

• We are calling for the creation of a new category in the Young Innovative Company scheme to benefit impact-driven companies. The "Young Innovative Impact Company (JEII)" category would support structures that deliver impact-driven innovation, meet our economic, social and environmental needs, and generate avoided costs for the community, helping to reduce pressure on public finances.
  
  
• While the Research Tax Credit (CIR) is mostly taken up by large companies, whose economic knock-on effects are inferior to those of SMEs/ETIs, and does not encourage companies to direct their R&D towards "green" innovation, an essential condition for our competitiveness and future sovereignty, we call for the CIR to be redirected towards impact companies, which generate the highest economic knock-on costs.
  
  

2. Deterring investment in impact innovation

We are calling for the creation of a state guarantee fund, entrusted to Bpifrance, to provide security for investors financing ESUS-certified companies. This mechanism would enable the State to cover part of any losses in the event of failure, thereby reducing the risk borne by private investors.

• For financial backers, it means the possibility of investing more heavily and with greater peace of mind in projects with a social or environmental impact, with more controlled exposure to risk.
• For impact startups, it's a decisive growth lever: this fund would unlock capital that is currently too cautious, and facilitate their scaling-up across the country.

Ultimately, this measure would help secure solidarity savings, mobilize new private investors and accelerate the deployment of impact innovation solutions.‍

3. Define a fiscal and financial framework favorable to Social and Solidarity Economy Trading Companies (SCESS)

We are calling for the creation of a 10% tax credit on profits reinvested in the non-distributable reserves of SCESS, up to a limit of 100,000 euros per year. This mechanism would encourage companies to capitalize their surpluses rather than distribute them, in order to consolidate their financial independence. 

• For the companies concerned, this means more autonomy, greater investment capacity and greater economic resilience. 
• For financial backers, it's a guarantee of support for more solid, sustainable structures, capable of developing long-term projects.

We are also calling for the creation of a €40 million national investment fund to finance social and ecological innovation projects carried out by SCESSs. This fund would make it possible to co-finance impact investments via direct aid or repayable advances, based on transparent criteria defined by Bpifrance and the French Treasury. 

• For companies in the sector, this means greater access to financing tailored to their business model. 
• For investors, this is a powerful public leverage effect, reinforcing the security and profitability of their commitments.

Lastly, we propose to create a transition fund to support traditional companies wishing to adopt SCESS status and align their business model with the general interest.

• This scheme would finance the legal costs, governance changes and investments required for this transformation.

Find out more about our proposals for the 2026 budget and those of our partners