Ludovic Laventure was born in France in 1967. Having completed his business studies, he started his professional career in sales. After spending four years in sales, he realized that he had greater potential and interest in private entrepreneurship. So, after setting up and running a successful gastronomique restaurant in his region, he launched himself in imports and exports. He first came to Albania in 1996, and after commuting between Albania and France exercising import-export activities for over four years, Ludovic established himself in the country in 2000, when Albanians were just starting to use mobile phones. Residential and commercial constructions were booming. It was on those areas that Ludovic would concentrate and develop his business in Albania.
Having exhausted the initial enchantment of having a mobile, users soon began to see the phone as an entertaining tool for games and music. Ludovic saw the potential and set up Fitotel. The company collaborated strongly with mobile operators and offered their customers music, games and all other such entertainment content branching out to include other telecommunication elements and facilities. Fitotel morphed into Kristal Communication, which in addition to existing value-added-services, provides mass SMS services to different banking and financial institutions in Albania. Furthermore, Kristal Communication offers, on behalf of the French, Italian and Greek Embassies in Albania, a visa appointment service over the phone. In parallel to the telco business, and in pursuit of the development trend in Albania, Ludovic ventured into the real estate business. In 2004, together with a Swiss partner he co-founded Balkimo. Balkimo was involved in the commercialization of several large residential and commercial constructions and counted several collaborations with international brands such as Savils and Cushman and Wakefield. Ludovic is no longer involved in the real estate sector. With the looming subprime crisis, he decided to concentrate on telco and pursue other interests. In 2008, he started considering turning the mobile phone into a more effective tool. His existing businesses were strongly connected with the major telco and banking players in the market. Mobile phone penetration rate in Albania had exceeded 100%. More than 50% of the working population owned a bank account. There were no existing elements or services linking the mobile phone to the bank account. The need for more efficient payment solutions was imminent. MPAY was born.