After securing €40 million in Series C funding early last year, French fintech startup Pennylane has now raised another €75 million in equity. Doubling its valuation to €2 billion. The fresh capital comes from US investor Meritech Capital and Google’s growth arm, Capital G. Long-time backers Sequoia and DST Capital also joined the round, further solidifying support behind one of Europe’s fastest-growing accounting platforms.
Pennylane is rethinking how businesses and accountants collaborate. Instead of shuffling financial statements, invoices, and tax filings through email or Dropbox, its platform centralizes everything in one place. That simple shift is helping accounting firms boost productivity by up to 30%, according to the company.
The new funds weren’t a necessity, says cofounder Arthur Waller, but the timing was too good to pass up. With electronic invoicing set to become mandatory for all French enterprises in September 2026, the startup saw an opening to dominate the market. “We didn’t need more cash,” Waller told Sifted. “But with the arrival of electronic invoicing, we wanted to hold all the cards.”
France’s move to mandatory electronic invoicing is part of a broader European trend aimed at cracking down on tax fraud. The reform will require companies to stop sending invoices in PDF or paper formats and instead use structured digital files that can be automatically processed. It’s a massive shift that could reshape how six million businesses manage invoicing—and Pennylane wants to be their go-to platform.
To seize the opportunity, the company plans to ramp up R&D and marketing spend. One major development in the pipeline is an AI copilot built specifically for accountants. At the same time, Pennylane expects to grow its team from 550 to 800 employees by year-end, all while pushing product upgrades and expanding client support.
The capital will also fuel Pennylane’s acquisition strategy. Last year, Waller declared that the company planned to be a “predator, not prey.” Since then, it’s already made a move, acquiring French startup Billy, which builds connectors to help integrate various software tools. More deals are likely on the horizon as Pennylane looks to strengthen its ecosystem and stay ahead of rivals.
So far, the growth story is compelling. In just one year, Pennylane has tripled its SME customer base, now serving 350,000 businesses. It also partners with 4,500 accounting firms across France. By the end of 2025, Waller expects the company to hit €100 million in annual recurring revenue and become near-profitable—an achievement that made the latest funding round more favorable than most.
While Pennylane is laser-focused on France for now, expansion into other European markets is a real possibility. Countries like Italy have already adopted similar invoicing reforms, and others are expected to follow soon. Waller says the rollout calendar will dictate the timing of international launches. For now, though, the French market remains a priority, especially with such a massive transition underway.
Despite its momentum, the startup faces real competition. Traditional giants like Sage and Visma are dominant players with multi-billion dollar valuations, and business banking apps are also stepping up their accounting offerings. But with strong investor support, rapid growth, and favorable market conditions, Pennylane is betting it can outmaneuver the incumbents and shape the future of digital accounting.
