Bpifrance prospecting insurance: funding your export expansion

Prospecting a new country costs money long before the first invoice: travel, trade fairs, hiring an export sales rep, adapting the product. Bpifrance's prospecting insurance (assurance prospection) is one of the few public tools that funds part of these costs and bears the risk that the effort fails. You still need to understand how it is repaid, and what it changes in your accounts.

Quick answer. Bpifrance prospecting insurance (assurance prospection) is a repayable advance covering 50% or 65% of an approved export prospecting budget. It is open to French companies with revenue below €500 million. At least 30% is always repaid; the rest depends on the export revenue generated in the target area.

Prospecting insurance is a public export support scheme, managed by Bpifrance Assurance Export, that covers part of a company's prospecting costs in foreign markets and insures it against the commercial failure of that prospecting. The word "insurance" often misleads business owners: it is neither trade credit insurance nor a grant (subvention).

In practice, Bpifrance pays a cash advance calculated on an expense budget it has approved. The company then repays that advance based on the revenue it generates in the countries prospected. If the prospecting fails, part of the advance is never repaid: the French State absorbs that loss.

The Bpifrance catalogue sheet sums up the purpose this way: prospecting insurance covers the share of prospecting costs that could not be recouped through a sufficient level of sales in the covered geographical area.

Prospecting insurance is open to French companies in all sectors with revenue below €500 million, excluding international trading (négoce international). The Bpifrance documents reviewed add three conditions:

• having published at least one set of accounts covering a minimum of 12 months;
• already selling the products or services being prospected;
• meeting a minimum French content (part française) of 20% in those products or services.

A company set up a few months ago, with no first balance sheet yet, is therefore not eligible for the standard version. For an early-stage company, other levers exist, which we compare in our article on choosing between bank debt, venture capital and public aid.

The expenses covered by prospecting insurance are the costs incurred specifically to win the target geographical area, based on a budget submitted by the company and then approved by Bpifrance. The notice on covered expenses published by Bpifrance lists in particular:

The international corporate volunteer programme (volontariat international en entreprise, V.I.E) is often combined with prospecting insurance: Team France Export presents the pairing as a way into distant markets.

In practice. At the firm, we advise opening an analytical section "export country X" in the books from day one. The summary statement of eligible expenses (état récapitulatif des dépenses éligibles, ERDE) required by Bpifrance then becomes a simple extraction, not a reconstruction from bank statements six months later.

Prospecting insurance runs over three successive periods: a prospecting period during which the company spends, a grace period with no repayment, then a repayment period linked to export revenue. Here is the timeline as described by Bpifrance:

1. Online application, with the prospecting budget by country or area and a presentation of the export project.
2. Signature of the contract: a first advance equal to 50% of the covered amount is paid, less the premium.
3. Prospecting period of 2 or 3 years: the company incurs its expenses and documents them.
4. Payment of the balance no later than the end of the prospecting period, based on the summary statement of eligible expenses (ERDE).
5. Grace period (franchise) of 2 years: no repayment, while the first sales materialise.
6. Repayment period of 3 or 4 years: the company reports its export revenue in the area and repays under the contract rules.

A page on economie.gouv.fr still mentions a 2% premium and different durations: the terms used here are those of the Bpifrance catalogue, and only the contractual offer is binding for your file.

Prospecting insurance is always repaid up to at least 30% of the amounts received, then additionally based on the export revenue generated in the covered countries. Bpifrance describes three cases:

• export revenue below 3 times the indemnities paid: only the flat minimum repayment of 30% is due;
• export revenue equal to or above 10 times the indemnities: the indemnities are repaid in full;
• in between: repayment is calculated on the export revenue generated, using the amortisation rate set in the contract.

Repayment never exceeds the indemnities received: prospecting insurance does not bear interest the way a bank loan does.

Worked example (illustrative case)#

An industrial SME has a €100,000 prospecting budget approved for Germany and Austria. With a 65% share, the maximum coverage is €65,000, provided all expenses are incurred and documented.

• Premium: 3% of the guaranteed budget, i.e. €3,000 if the base used is the €100,000 budget (exact base to be read in the offer).
• First advance: 50% of €65,000, i.e. €32,500, less the premium.
• Minimum repayment: 30% of €65,000, i.e. €19,500.
• Failure threshold: export revenue below €195,000 (3 times €65,000) limits repayment to €19,500; the company then keeps €45,500.
• Success threshold: from €650,000 (10 times €65,000), the full €65,000 is repaid.

The underestimated risk. Indemnities are calculated on expenses actually documented, not on the budget. An SME that spends 60% of its budget receives 60% of the expected indemnity, while it has often built the full advance into its cash plan. Build your cash flow plan on actual outflows, not on the approved amount.

The Assurance Prospection Accompagnement (APA) is the variant of prospecting insurance designed for first-time exporting micro-businesses and SMEs, combining funding with mandatory support from a provider approved by Bpifrance Assurance Export, in partnership with Team France Export. Bpifrance still publishes its product sheet and practical guide, but its availability and parameters for an application in 2026 should be confirmed with your adviser.

According to the Bpifrance documents reviewed, the APA has these features:

• a guaranteed budget between €10,000 and €40,000;
• initial expenses: market research, travel and stays, the approved provider's support service;
• an advance of 65% of eligible expenses;
• a 24-month prospecting period, a 24-month grace period and a 36-month repayment period;
• failure is recognised if export revenue is less than or equal to 3 times the advance, with repayment limited to 30% of the advance.

Team France Export is the public international support network that brings together Business France, the chambers of commerce and industry (CCI), the regions and Bpifrance. The French Treasury (Direction générale du Trésor) presents it as a one-stop shop: advisers in the regions guide SMEs, and correspondents abroad take over in the target markets.

For prospecting insurance, Team France Export steps in upstream: export diagnosis, choice of countries, identification of trade fairs and services. For the APA, the partnership is built in, since the support service is a condition of the scheme. If you are just starting, our first steps to export for a micro-business sets out the order of work.

Prospecting insurance is recorded on the liabilities side as a conditional advance as long as repayment remains possible, not as income when the cash comes in. ANC regulation No. 2024-07, applicable to financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2026, defines conditional advances (avances conditionnées: advances from a public body whose repayment depends on the project's success) and classifies them under "Other equity" (Autres fonds propres) on the balance sheet, no longer as debt. They are recorded in the sub-accounts of account 167 "Non-repayable funds and conditional advances" (traditionally account 1674 "Conditional State advances", Avances conditionnées de l'État; check the sub-account used in the current French chart of accounts).

Here is the usual treatment, to be validated with your chartered accountant (expert-comptable) based on the contract terms:

• advances received: credit the conditional advance account, no income;
• prospecting expenses: expenses of the year according to their nature (travel, salaries, fees);
• premium: expense of the year;
• repayments: debit the advance account;
• final recognition of failure: the non-repayable portion becomes income of the year in which it is acquired, and it then enters taxable profit.

French tax doctrine (BOFiP) allocates to the result of the year the sums a company is definitively released from repaying. The exact classification of the advance under the contract terms is settled at year-end closing, not along the way.

Our view. Prospecting insurance is a good tool when it funds an export strategy that has already been thought through: prioritised countries, a realistic budget, an identified sales rep. It becomes a trap when it is used to plug a general cash shortfall. The 30% minimum repayment is due even if the effort fails: it must appear in the forecast from signature.

A solid prospecting insurance application rests on a detailed prospecting budget by country, justifiable line by line. Before applying, check the following:

• Latest published balance sheet covering at least 12 months
• French content of at least 20% in the prospected offer, documented
• List of target countries or areas, prioritised
• Budget by type of expense and by country, consistent with the prospecting period
• Forecast including the premium, the advance schedule and the 30% minimum repayment
• Analytical "export" section opened in the books
• Customs and tax preparation for the first sales: EORI number, invoice wording and proof of export

For a service business selling outside France, our article on VAT and invoicing for an international consultant completes the preparation. And if the export project requires an additional guaranteed loan, it helps to know how the France Active guarantee works.

• Bpifrance prospecting insurance is a repayable advance covering 50% or 65% of an approved export budget.
• Eligibility requires revenue below €500 million, a first 12-month balance sheet and French content of at least 20%.
• At least 30% is repaid, then repayment is linked to export revenue; it is repaid in full from 10 times the indemnities.
• The APA, a variant for first-time exporters with a budget of €10,000 to €40,000, should be confirmed for a 2026 application.
• The advance is recorded as a conditional advance (under "Other equity" since 2026); the non-repaid portion becomes taxable income when failure is recognised.