French fintech startup Pennylane snags €15 million in Series A funding

Online accounting tool Pennylane popped up in Paris just before the coronavirus pandemic upended business operations across Europe. Target users were simultaneously entering an economic crisis and being thrust into digital transformation, and it shows. In January 2020, the fintech startup launched and it has raised about €19 million since, including a €15 million Series A round just announced today. In less than a year, Pennylane has generated a revenue of over €2 million, hired about 30 accountants and 15 developers, and now supports 500+ customers on a daily basis (mostly startups, SMEs, e-commerce businesses and restaurant owners). What the software provides is clarity, ease, and (a sense of) control over business finances. The SaaS tool is evolving into a full-stack financial management service, where company managers can monitor the cash coming in and out, and accountants can keep the books. The Series A funding comes from Global Founders Capital and Partech, who also backed the startup in its seed round in May, along with Kima Ventures. “We support the idea that Pennylane will become the financial Operating System for European SMEs within the next five years,” says David Sainteff of Global Founders Capital. Pennylane’s founders previously founded PriceMatch, a revenue management platform for hotels which was acquired by Booking.com in 2015.