Just ten days before the COVID-19 pandemic, François Bestué, Adelin Revault, and Kévin Jégo launched Phoner, a company specialising in the repair and sale of refurbished smartphones. Starting from a basement in Etrelles, Ille-et-Vilaine, they have grown their business with passion and dedication. Today, they operate four stores in Western France and lead a team of 25 employees. As mobile operators, they achieved a turnover of €3 million in their last fiscal year, refurbishing around 10,000 phones in 2023. They aim to increase this number to 100,000 within the next four to five years, especially if local SMEs and mid-sized companies, which make up 50% of their business, opt for refurbished mobile fleets. Their circular economy model was recently recognized at the 2024 Crisalide Eco-activities Awards.

In March 2020, Phoner officially launched in Vitré, just before the economic shutdown. Initially working from Kevin’s basement and meeting clients on the street, they quickly gained trust. By June 2020, they moved to an apartment in Vitré, operating by appointment for sales and repairs and soon offering accessories. To increase visibility, they toured Atlantic coast markets with their distinctive blue “Phoner mobile” caravan. This experience, though brief, helped them refine their business model.

By September 2021, they opened their first store with their own funds, followed by a second store in Laval in November 2021. During this period, Phoner developed a custom CRM and began targeting corporate mobile fleets, offering services to local SMEs and mid-sized companies. By the end of 2022, they opened a third store in Rennes, employing 15 people and handling around 1,000 refurbished phones monthly. Their premium service includes replacing screens, batteries, and defective components, with phones sourced from various channels, including corporate trade-ins and brokers. In early 2024, Phoner opened a fourth store in Nantes and became a local telecom operator, offering competitive mobile plans and emphasising the environmental benefits of refurbished phones. They plan to open a fifth store by the end of 2024 and aim to refurbish 100,000 phones annually within five years.

By Amin Rabhi