Dutch revenue-based financing marketplace Levenue raises €8M; acquires Belgian startup Cake 

Breda, the Netherlands-based Levenue, a revenue-based financing marketplace, announced that it has secured €8M in Series A funding from Truffle Capital, with participation from Freshmen Fund.

Levenue is the first flagship investment of the Truffles’ “Fintech Scale-Ups Fund” that will invest in up to 15 high-growth Fintech scale-ups across Europe over the next few years. 

In addition to the funding, Truffle Capital will also offer its deep fintech expertise and network to support the Dutch company as it scales its operations across the European Union, including launching in France in Q1 2024 and as it accelerates its product development.

Acquired Cake 

Besides funding, Levenue also announced the acquisition of Cake, a Belgian company known for its open banking and data enrichment technology to improve the underwriting process. 

By enriching every line of a company’s banking data, with the goal of building a reality-based replica of its P&L, Levenue will be able to create more accurate risk profiles and offer faster financing decisions.   

Davy Kestens, CEO of Cake says, “Both Cake and Levenue’s mission has always been about bringing transparent data solutions to the world. Today, this mission has become much bigger than either of us had ever imagined when we initially started this journey. Challenging the way companies get financed, analysed, and valued is a goal both of our teams are excited to rethink and rebuild.” 

Last year, Levenue acquired Requr for an undisclosed fee to capitalise on the growing popularity of Revenue-Based-Financing (RBF). 

Levenue: Revenue-based financing marketplace

Founded by Benjamin Rieder and Zahra Alubudi, Levenue is a revenue-based financing marketplace that aims to create a more transparent model for connecting entrepreneurs and investors. 

Unlike traditional financing methods where founders have to offer shares and lose control over their business, Levenue offers an alternative by using the projected cash flow from existing subscriptions as collateral for financing. 

Since its launch in 2021, Levenue’s revenue-based financing marketplace has enabled investors to deploy over €300M to subscription-based companies. 

Levenue says that founders can enjoy several benefits through revenue-based financing. 

One of the most significant advantages is the speed of financing, which requires only 48 hours to assess companies for funding. 

Once approved, funds are typically received within three days. The underwriting decisions are based solely on qualitative data, including revenue growth and accounting data, thus eliminating any potential bias in the financial assessment process.

Levenue currently operates profitably in 12 countries across Europe and the UK. It includes Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Austria and Poland. 

The Dutch platform has grown its team by over 200 per cent in 12 months while building AI and machine learning into its underwriting solutions to rapidly scale operations with maximum capital efficiency. 

Benjamin Rieder, CEO and co-founder at Levenue says, “We have established Levenue as a platform where entrepreneurs and investors can connect, fostering the growth of innovative subscription-based businesses. Having facilitated over 300 million EUR in financing in just two years, we’ve proven that there is a significant demand for such a marketplace on both sides.” 

“The acquisition of Cake was driven by our continuous commitment to enhancing our offerings and improving transparency for our users,” he adds.

The investor

Truffle Capital is an independent European venture capital firm specialising in disruptive technologies in the IT (Fintech and Insurtech) and Life Sciences (Medtech and Biotech) sectors. 

The VC manages assets of €500M, has raised more than €1.1B since its creation, and has supported more than 120 companies in the life sciences and digital technologies sectors.

Patrick lord, Senior Partner of the Truffle Capital Fintech practice says, “Founders of subscription-based SMEs need new solutions to fuel their growth. The complexity, founder distraction, and sheer time and effort needed to finance companies via traditional means can harm the business, and sometimes kill it. We believe strongly in Levenue’s mission to make it as simple, transparent, and fast as possible for founders to leverage their primary value driver, their subscription volumes, to accelerate the growth of their companies in the most agile and painless way possible.”