Simplifying financial processes for SMEs, Vienna-based platform Helu picks up €9.8 million

Austrian fintech startup Helu.io has brought in over €9.8 million in funding to build a new way for European SMEs to manage financial controlling, reporting and budgeting. The round was led by fintech specialists CommerzVentures, alongside tech-focused VC IRIS and early-stage investor Speedinvest.

The financial reporting and due diligence management platform had secured $5 million in seed funding in 2021. The new investment brings the company’s total funding raised to about €14.8 million.

The startup will utilise the new cash infusion to expand its product offering with a budget planning module launched in 2023 to enable CFOs of SMEs to set up a seamless experience throughout the budgeting, controlling and reporting processes. Many small businesses across Europe are still manually building these excel sheets, merging accounting with non-financial data – meaning processes are slower and more cumbersome than they need to be. Founded in 2020 by unicorn investor Franz Salzmann, the Vienna-based fintech is helping CFOs and financial managers of SMEs to automate financial controlling and reporting processes.

With easy-to-use software, Helu.io integrates into accounting software, enabling companies to transform their complex financial data into individual and easy-to-understand reports in a short time. Franz Salzmann, founder and CEO of Helu.io, said: “Financial reporting and controlling is still an enormously manual process in all medium-sized companies worldwide. We want to automate this work and make it possible with just a few clicks. With this latest financing round, we can look forward to achieving large parts of our goals and continue to set a new standard for this category.”

Stefan Tirtey, managing partner of CommerzVentures, added: “Helu.io has created a standout, powerful and easily integrated solution which allows SMEs and advisors to gain full control of financial data, removing the need for manual processes. Saving time and money empowers finance leaders to make better informed business decisions faster.”