France’s newest unicorn: Pennylane raises €40M from Sequoia Capital and DST Global
Summary
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. 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. 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.