Meet Berlin’s latest unicorn: Index Venture-backed mobile tax app Taxfix raises $220M at $1B+ valuation

Berlin-based Taxfix, an app that simplifies complex tax filing systems, announced on Thursday that it has raised $220M (approximately €209M) in its Series D round of funding. The fintech has now achieved the status of a unicorn and sits on a valuation of over $1B.

In the past five years, Taxfix claims to have created a new category of mobile tax filing by taking the pain out of the stressful process and making it accessible and simple for everyone to file their taxes through the Taxfix app.

Investors in this round

The round was led by Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG), part of the $242B Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers’), with participation from existing investors Index Ventures, Valar Ventures, Creandum, and Redalpine. 

Avid Larizadeh Duggan, Managing Director, EMEA, of TVG, will join the Taxfix board.

Duggan says, “We were quickly won over by Taxfix, the team and the vision behind the company and its products. Similar to Taxfix, Ontario Teachers’ is mission-driven and here to provide people with a secure and stable future. It is exciting and inspiring to meet a team, building a product that can be used by millions of people to improve their financial well being. We are very much looking forward to working with Martin and Taxfix on fulfilling their vision and making it easy, affordable and anxiety-free for anyone to file their taxes and manage their finances.”

TVG focuses on late-stage venture and growth equity investments in technology companies worldwide. It is part of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers’), a global investor with net assets of $241.6B. It invests in more than 50 countries in everything from equities and real estate to infrastructure and venture growth, to deliver retirement income for 333,000 current and retired teachers in Ontario.

Capital utilisation

Taxfix says that the fundraising cements its development from a startup to a major industry player: In addition to strong revenue figures, the company also reached the milestone of over €1B in tax refunds returned to Taxfix users in October last year. 

The company also reports that it will continue to invest in growth, and hired more than 100 new employees in the first quarter of 2022 to bring the total team size to more than 500 people.

Taxfix CEO Martin Ott says, “We are incredibly proud to take the next step in our mission to help people overcome their fear of complex tax and financial issues together with TVG, a long-term partner that shares our vision. With this funding, we will continue to drive rapid international growth and the expansion of our product offering to develop additional financial services.”

“In addition to doubling revenue in the first quarter of this year, we expanded into Spain, another important European market. I am particularly pleased that our team continues to grow – because this momentous landmark would not have been possible without the dedication and motivation of our very talented employees,” adds Ott.

Taxfix – supporting people to file their taxes

Founded in 2016 by Lino Teuteberg and Mathis Buchi, Taxfix is a mobile tax app with millions of downloads in Germany, Italy and Spain. The Taxfix app allows users to submit tax returns quickly and easily via app or web.

Taxfix was born after the founders realised millions of people were not submitting their tax returns because of anxiety or insecurity. Taxfix claims to offer an easy solution that guides users through the process of filing their taxes by asking them simple questions – as a tax advisor would.

More than 500 employees, including tax experts, developers and IT security experts, work in Berlin and Madrid to develop the Taxfix service and product portfolio further.

Besides the latest funding, Taxfix is also announcing a new addition to its product portfolio: Taxfix users can now receive half of their tax refund within one business day of filing their tax return via the free service “Instant Refund”. The company has also just launched a dedicated version of its service to support pensioners. With these steps, Taxfix aims to remove further barriers for its customers and enable more people to achieve financial well being.