French fintech Virgil gets €2.1 million to help millennials purchase homes

Virgil, the French fintech supporting millennial home ownership, has raised €2.1 million from Alven Capital, LocalGlobe, Kima Ventures, and a group of angel investors. Owning a dream home is becoming more of a pipedream, especially for a generation that started careers in an economic downturn, working in cities where cost of living is on the constant rise. In Paris, the price per square metre has increased by 150 percent since 2000, while disposable incomes haven’t budged. This is a barrier the startup calls “the stone ceiling.” In effort to break the stone ceiling, Virgil provides young professionals the necessary deposit to buy an apartment. “It’s not a loan, it’s equity,” the startup says.