Sources say that Pennylane, a fintech company that aims to be the most popular financial operating system for SMEs in the future, will close a new round of funding led by DST Global investor Revolut.
Sequoia, the US investment giant, is a major backer of the French startup. It enables businesses automate their invoices and to manage cash flow more efficiently.
Three sources familiar with the process said that Pennylane’s value will rise to $600 million to $650 million following the investment. This is an increase from $500 million just over one year ago. Two sources claim that the Paris-based company will raise approximately $50 million.
The deal is still not closed, and the final numbers are subject to change.
Pennylane declined comment. DST Global didn’t immediately respond to a request.
According to two sources, the startup raised $57 million in a Series B led Sequoia in January 2022. The round valued the company at between $450 and $500 million. The new round by Pennylane comes as tech startups are experiencing a slump in private market valuations due to a decline in publicly traded stocks.
According to PitchBook data, investment in European fintechs dropped to $23.3 billion in 2022 from $29.5 billion in 2021.
The startup sells its platform on a software-as-a-service basis and pulls data from third parties like Stripe, Payfit, or Qonto into one place for SMEs, reducing the time spent by companies on accounting. Pennylane has around 300 clients that can collaborate on the platform to centralize receipts and invoices. The platform allows businesses to calculate the VAT rates specific for each country they operate in.
The company employs 350 people. CEO Arthur Waller stated that Pennylane hoped to increase its workforce to 500 with the last round of funding. This was to create the most experienced accounting tech team in Europe.