Paris-based Pennylane, a financial management and accounting platform designed for startups/SMEs, announced that it has secured €40M in a Series C round of funding.
With this round, the company has attained the ‘unicorn’ status.
The latest funds will help Pennylane enhance its account-tech platform with a focus on artificial intelligence. The French company aims to empower accountants to leverage electronic invoicing and AI to boost productivity.
Investors supporting Pennylane
The Series C investment came from US-based Sequoia Capital and UK’s DST Global.
In June 2021, Sequoia led the $18M investment round in Pennylane, marking their first investment in a French startup since establishing their European team in 2020.
Luciana Lixandru, Partner at Sequoia, says, “Pennylane solves a meaningful problem for more than 120,000 SMBs and over 2000 accountancy firms, giving businesses their financial information in real-time and their trusted accountants a smarter, more productive way of working.”
“We continue to be impressed by this world-class technical team, their drive to innovate, and their relentless focus on their customers. We expect to see many more SMBs and accountancy firms across Europe benefit from this financial OS as Pennylane expands this year.”
Tom Stafford, co-founder and managing partner of DST Global adds, “Already today, Pennylane’s software makes accountants often 20+ per cent more efficient and empowers companies with real-time access to and control over their financial information.”
“We are excited to continue to partner with the Pennylane team as they continue to develop out their products, including embedding powerful AI features.”
The financial OS for European SMEs
Pennylane, launched in January 2020, was founded by Arthur Waller, Alexandre Roquoplo, Felix Blossier, and Edouard Mascré, the founders of PriceMatch (acquired by Booking.com in 2015).
The company claims to be a pioneering platform that combines production software for accountants with a financial management tool for clients.
It centralises financial flows, streamlines collaboration, and automates tasks, supporting over 2,000 accountancy firms and 120,000 businesses.
Through automated processes, accounting firms can save an average of 15 per cent of time per case, encompassing tasks from data recovery to tax returns and automated lettering.
Technology to advance and expand the field of accountancy
Pennylane aims to enhance accountants’ efficiency by incorporating AI, introducing a specialised chatbot for quick data retrieval and an automated assistant to identify specific client advisory needs, with plans to develop AI solutions for data entry and reporting.
Pennylane co-founder Waller, says, “This fund-raise comes at a time of exceptional growth for Pennylane, which has seen the number of its customers increase 40-fold in two years.”
“Although not actively seeking financing, we’re excited to seize this opportunity to move even faster. It’s essential for accountants to have access to a comprehensive tool that enables them to compete with neo-banks and online accounting solutions, some of whom claim they will replace the entire profession.”
“At Pennylane, we want to support accounts to shift the focus of their mission towards consulting, updating employees’ skills and attracting younger talent. We also plan to broaden the capabilities of our platform by adopting an external growth strategy over the next 5 years.”
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