Case Study: How a Scaleup Expanded to France in Under 3 Months

Background

The company was a fast-growing SaaS provider specializing in enterprise workflow automation. With Series B funding, 200 employees worldwide, and clients across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, they were ready to enter the French market. Their goal was to set up a subsidiary in France to target large enterprises and prove early traction to investors.

They faced three key obstacles. First, they had no local legal entity or bank account. Second, they lacked expertise in French payroll and compliance. Finally, they needed quick sales traction to validate their market expansion.

Incorporating a French SAS

From the beginning, the company needed a legal structure that provided flexibility, credibility, and speed. The choice of a Société par Actions Simplifiée (SAS) gave them exactly that. With support from morn’s Legal and Compliance service, they drafted bylaws tailored for foreign ownership, deposited ten thousand euros of share capital, published the mandatory legal notice, and filed with the Commercial Court.

The entire incorporation process was finalized within five weeks. The team received the official K-Bis company registration in record time, enabling them to act as a legitimate French entity.

Banking Without Delays

Bank account setup is often the single largest bottleneck for foreign founders. This scaleup initially approached a traditional bank and quickly realized the process would delay them by months. To accelerate, they switched to a fintech partner, Qonto, which provided a capital deposit certificate in four days.

Thanks to this approach, the incorporation could move forward without waiting for the traditional bank account to be active. By week two, the capital deposit was complete, and by week six the operating account was live.

Payroll and Compliance in Place from Day One

The leadership team wanted to hire quickly but understood that mistakes in payroll or HR compliance could create costly setbacks. From the very beginning they implemented an outsourced payroll system, drafted compliant CDI contracts, and set up mandatory benefits including health insurance, transport reimbursement, and meal vouchers.

By week seven, payroll was fully operational, giving them the ability to onboard their first employees without delay. This was coordinated through morn’s Operational Launch service, which provides end-to-end support for HR and compliance in France.

First Hires Secured Before Launch

To accelerate revenue, the hiring plan focused on sales and customer success roles. The company recruited a Country Manager on a 110,000 euro gross package with bonus, two Account Executives on 60,000 euros gross plus OTE, and one Customer Success Manager on 50,000 euros gross.

Recruitment was supported by local agencies and by morn, ensuring employment contracts were signed by week nine and the team was ready to operate by the third month.

Building the Sales Pipeline in Parallel

While the legal and HR setup was in motion, the commercial team defined its Ideal Customer Profile in France. The target segment included large enterprises in manufacturing and telecom. Outbound campaigns in French were launched early, and the first twenty discovery meetings were already scheduled by the time the entity was officially live.

This proactive approach was possible thanks to morn’s Commercial Footprint service, which combines ICP definition, lead generation, and booked meetings. By the time the subsidiary was registered, the sales engine was already running.

Results Achieved

The timeline speaks for itself. In week one, legal and banking setup began. By week two, the capital deposit was secured. By week five, incorporation was complete. By week seven, payroll and benefits were operational. By week nine, the first hires had joined. And by month three, a sales pipeline with more than twenty meetings was active.

Six months after launch, the French subsidiary had already signed four enterprise contracts, generating more than one million dollars ARR. The entity quickly became the European hub for further expansion, and investors validated France as a growth market for the company.

Lessons Learned

Expanding to France does not have to take six to nine months. This case demonstrates that choosing an SAS as a legal form is the most efficient route for foreign founders, that fintech solutions should replace traditional banks to avoid delays, that outsourcing payroll early guarantees compliance, and that hiring local sales talent before launch accelerates traction. Running incorporation and commercial activity in parallel is the key to gaining revenue faster.

How morn Made It Possible

As an operational partner, morn provided end-to-end execution. The team drafted and filed incorporation documents, secured the capital deposit, set up payroll and compliance, supported recruitment of key hires, and launched the sales pipeline. With morn, the scaleup went from zero presence in France to a fully operational subsidiary in under three months.

Conclusion

For international scaleups, France can be a gateway to the European market. With proper planning and the right partner, the full process of incorporation, hiring, and selling can be achieved in under ninety days. morn specializes in making this possible by combining legal setup with immediate commercial action, ensuring that startups are not waiting to generate revenue but are ready to scale from day one.