Many SMBs and accountants struggle with inefficient, fragmented tools and lack real-time financial insights, making financial management and collaboration difficult. Pennylane addresses these challenges with an all-in-one platform that automates accounting tasks, centralises financial data, and enables seamless collaboration between businesses and accountants.
Pennylane aims to become France’s e-invoicing benchmark by securing €75M from Meritech, Capital G, and existing investors Sequoia and DST. In an exclusive interview with TFN, CEO and co-founder Arthur Waller revealed that this brings the total funding to € 229M. The company’s previous €40M round in February 2024 valued it at €1B, securing its unicorn status.
This investment will help Pennylane establish integrated financial management as the European standard while enabling firms to expand their strategic advisory services. The company plans to grow from 550 to 800 employees by late 2025, with half working in R&D.
Waller explained: “Though we weren’t seeking funding, this opportunity accelerates our development of purchase and sales invoice services, allowing us to offer companies and firms a fully integrated, interoperable solution that meets transformation challenges.”
Addressing inefficiencies in accounting and financial management for SMBs and accountants
Pennylane was founded in Paris in September 2019 by Arthur Waller, Tancrede Besnard, Felix Blossier, Thierry Deo, Edouard Mascré, Quentin de Metz, and Alexandre Roquoplo. Several founders had worked together at PriceMatch, which Booking.com acquired in 2015. Waller drew from his entrepreneurial experience and Booking.com insights to tackle financial management inefficiencies.
Waller shared: “Pennylane’s story began with friends who founded PriceMatch, which we sold to Booking.com three and a half years later. We sought a new entrepreneurial venture after working within Europe’s largest tech team. We targeted a market where technology could make a real difference; that’s how Pennylane was born.”
Pennylane’s inspiration came from Waller’s accounting challenges at PriceMatch. After interviewing over 500 business leaders, the team discovered widespread demand for tools to harness real-time financial data. This led them to create a platform bridging accounting and management, giving SMBs actionable insights while freeing accountants to focus on advisory work.
Waller added: “Pennylane launched in 2020 to provide a unified platform combining accounting software and financial management tools. By centralising real-time data, we streamline collaboration between businesses and accountants. This enables accountants to focus on advisory work while giving companies better decision-making tools and simpler financial management.”
The platform has grown remarkably, tripling its SME users in 12 months. This organic expansion reflects the trust of 4,500 accounting firms and their 350,000 daily active clients.
Behind Pennylane: Four pillars of its unified accounting platform
Unlike fragmented alternatives, Pennylane offers an integrated platform combining financial management, business accounts, accounting production, and a Partner Dematerialisation Platform (PDP). This unified approach lets businesses manage finances seamlessly and securely.
With over 4,000 accountants’ trust, the platform handles electronic invoicing requirements and integrates smoothly with existing business tools through a free, high-performance API, easing digital transition. “Our proven PDP infrastructure and ecosystem are ready to support this strategic transition. Our platform enables companies to exchange Factur-X format electronic invoices, helping them confidently meet new compliance requirements,” said Waller.
As an early leader in France’s 2026 electronic invoicing reform, Pennylane has established itself as an industry standard. The reform will affect many European countries, and Pennylane already offers comprehensive e-invoice management within its platform.
Future? Positioning as the benchmark for e-invoicing
Waller concluded, “Pennylane aims to become Europe’s leader in electronic invoicing and integrated financial management. We’ll invest in R&D, expand to 800 team members by 2025, and support businesses adapting to e-invoicing reforms. We’ll also incorporate generative AI while maintaining close ties with the accounting profession to meet evolving needs.”
Luciana Lixandru, Sequoia Partner, noted: “Pennylane’s relentless customer focus continues to drive momentum and trust, with the number of SMEs on their platform increasing 3X in just the past 12 months. Sequoia first partnered with Pennylane in 2021, and Arthur and the team’s execution speed has impressed us every day since.
With e-invoicing reforms rolling out in France and Europe, many companies are just beginning their digitisation journey. This presents a massive opportunity, and Pennylane is perfectly positioned to seize it.”
