Paris-based financial and account management solutions provider Pennylane raised €15m ($18m) in new funding from Sequoia Capital.
The news follows Pennylane’s recent Series A fundraising from investors Global Founders Capital and Partech.
The raised capital from this round will be used to expand the platform and strengthen its tech, product and design teams.
Launched in January 2020 by the founders of PriceMatch – which was acquired by Booking.com in 2015 – Arthur Waller, Alexandre Roquoplo, Felix Blossier and Edouard Mascré, Pennylane uses accounting data to help entrepreneurs manage their day-to-day business.
Given that there are too many tools that are not well synchronised with each other, the collaboration with accountants seems outdated, and visibility on activity and cash flows is lacking. Pennylane’s accountancy service, Pennylane Compta, restores accounting and management, via its platform shared between the accountant and the business manager.
The company markets its product in the form of a monthly subscription which includes both the bookkeeping and the consulting part, as well as the provision of the software. The offer centralises companywide financial data in real-time and gives business leaders up-to-the-minute data to make decisions.
Pennylane’s aim is to become the defacto financial management and accounting platform for startups and SMEs and their accountants. Since its inception, the startup claims to have generated a revenue of more than $2.4m, hired about 30 accountants and 15 developers and now supports over 500 customers on a daily basis.
Focused on small and medium companies, the company has already attracted hundreds of clients as it says 1,000 executives are currently using Pennylane.
In addition, Pennylane has recently launched a new solution that centralises all purchasing, sales, and banking transaction data to make it real management and decision-making tool for company managers. Managers will, of course, have the opportunity to give access to their accountants so they may keep the books.
Commenting on the round, Waller said, “We are proud to announce this new funding round with Sequoia, which clearly demonstrates confidence and trust in Pennylane’s business model, and supports our vision: to establish the most efficient Financial Operating System for startups and SMEs in Europe. Pennylane provides a marketplace that enables accountants to use the same tools as their clients, communicating with them and giving both the accountant and the client access to up-to-date company data.”
It’s worth noting that this is Sequoia’s first investment since establishing an on-the-ground presence in Europe, therefore, placing Pennylane in the same portfolio as Stripe, Paypal and Square.
Sequoia’s Luciana Lixandru said, “Pennylane is becoming the key financial management platform for SME’s in Europe. We are thrilled to partner with their exceptional team to ensure businesses of any size can have a single, up-to-date source for their financial data and improve how they collaborate with their accountants.”
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