New economics-oriented news site e24.fr will be launched in France in mid-October, according to an article by Le Monde on Monday.

The site will be “totally free” and hopes to become the number one online economics news source, competing with business newspapers such as La Tribune and Les Echos. Online news source rue89.com will also be launching economics news site eco89.com by the end of this month although it is “more modest,” according to Le Monde.

e24.fr will employ 15 journalists and will be run by Stéphane Marchand, former chief editor of Le Figaro's economics section. The primary audience is expected to be aged between 25 and 29 years. Meanwhile, investments are predicted to range between four to six million euros. The site hopes to gain stability in the next three years.

Marchand pointed out that even though the advertising industry is facing difficulties, there may still be demand for advertisers, Le Monde reported.

Norway's Schibsten, which also publishes the free daily 20 Minutes, will have a 70 percent share in the site whereas 20 Minutes will have the remaining 30 percent. 20Minutes.fr will help direct traffic to e24.fr through links. e24 was previously launched in Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands.