Gauthier Henroz, CEO and one of the three founders of Chift, sums up his company’s mission in a clear sentence, “We facilitate integrations between software, especially business management software.” In a world where SMEs juggle dozens of poorly connected tools, Chift solves real headaches. Thanks to its unified APIs, the Belgian startup allows software publishers to connect at once to many other accounting, POS, CRM, or e-commerce tools. A digital power strip, as Gauthier likes to call it, “One integration with us can unlock dozens.”
Their value proposition is clear, simplify, save time, and avoid costly integrations. Where some competitors adopt a more generalist American approach, Chift makes a bold but strategic bet, to focus on Europe.
“Europe is complex, each country has its own tools. That’s exactly why no one tackles it. We chose to go for it.”
A deliberate choice that allows them to offer a solution adapted to the needs of European software publishers.
The journey hasn’t been linear. Before finding the right model, Gauthier and his partners went through phases of doubt. “In the beginning, we launched with a platform for integrators. But very quickly, we saw it wasn’t sustainable. Too complex, too specific. And then, by talking to software publishers, we realized that what interested them was our unified API, already present in our platform.” This pivot, made at the beginning of 2022, changed everything. In a few weeks, Chift signed its first contracts, restructured its offer, and redefined its strategy.
This transition demanded a lot of energy, and Gauthier recounts the beginning, “For six months, I was alone in front of my computer, wondering if we were going to make it.” That moment of uncertainty, when the vision isn’t yet clear but the will is there, he describes as a deep-water crossing, “You’re in the middle of a pool that’s too big, you don’t see the edge.” What kept them going? The desire to undertake, and above all, trust in the team, “I knew that with Matthieu and Henry, my partners, we were going to find something. No matter how, but we would do it.”
This ability to remain flexible, to question one’s ideas, is at the heart of Chift’s culture, “Many entrepreneurs fall in love with their ideas, but the idea is nothing if it doesn’t solve a real problem.” For him, everything begins with sincerely listening to the market’s needs,
“You start with a spark, but it’s by meeting users that you find the real fire.”
If Gauthier had to start all over again, he says he would have raised more funds at the start, “We lacked a bit of means at the beginning, which made us lose time. We could have gone faster, recruited more, structured better.” And today? The company is growing rapidly and actively hiring, especially commercial profiles with a sensitivity to tech and finance, “We have a clear vision, a strong ambition, now we’re looking for the right people to join us.”
When asked what was the most difficult, he answers without hesitation, “the human.” “A company is first and foremost people. Recruiting the right ones, supporting them well, that’s a real challenge.” He also emphasizes the importance of staying focused on one’s project and vision, a piece of advice he applies and shares, “At the beginning, we accepted projects outside our target. It cost us a lot of time. Now, we say no. Focus is what really allows you to move forward.”
And if he could have dinner with someone, it would be a leader who managed to combine performance and the well-being of their teams, “A Tony Hsieh (founder of Zappos and author of the book Delivering Happiness), Reid Hoffman (founder of LinkedIn) or Reed Hastings (founder of Netflix). Someone who lived hyperscale while building a culture where people are happy.”
Because for him, ambition should never make us forget the human!
Written by Sophiane Dujeu
