Accounting software firm Pennylane raises €40m in Series C

By Gloria Methri

Pennylane, an accounting software startup based in France, has raised another €40 million from Sequoia Capital and DST Global. The company has multiplied the number of VSE-SMEs on its platform in two years, with over 12,0000 SMEs using Pennylane in France.

These funds raised will allow Pennylane to accelerate the development of its various modules, to invest massively in artificial intelligence for accountants and to adopt an external growth strategy with companies with complementary know-how.

Arthur Waller, CEO and co-founder of Pennylane said, “This fundraising comes at a time when Pennylane is experiencing exceptional growth, multiplying the number of its customers 40-fold in two years. One year after the last round of funding, this fundraising will allow us to further support accounting firms in their transition to automation and the adoption of new technologies. We also plan to expand the capabilities of our platform by adopting an external growth strategy over the next 5 years.”

Luciana Lixandru, Partner at Sequoia, said “Pennylane solves an important problem for over 120,000 SMEs and over 2,000 accounting firms, by giving businesses their financial information in real-time and their trusted third party, their accountants, a smarter, more productive way of working. We continue to be impressed by Pennylane’s outstanding technical team, their drive to innovate and their constant focus on their customers. We look forward to “Many accounting firms and SMEs across Europe will benefit from this financial Operating System as Pennylane expands this year.”

“Accountants play an important role in the economy, and a strong, effective relationship between businesses and their accountants is a key component of effective business management,” said Tom Stafford, co-founder and managing partner of DST Global. “The Pennylane platform is already making accountants and businesses more efficient – ​​and there is more to come as the product develops, including new artificial intelligence features. We are excited to continue our partnership with the Pennylane team”.