Sequoia, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, has made its first investment in France with its backing of Pennylane. The latest development is in line with Sequoia ambitious expansion plans in Europe.
Pennylane raised $18.3 million from the Sequoia-backed funding, taking the total investment in the firm to $36.7 million for the year. The company in January raised an $18.4 million Series A round just with Global Founders Capital and Partech leading the round.
“Pennylane is becoming the key financial management platform for SME’s in Europe. We are thrilled to partner with their exceptional team to ensure businesses of any size can have a single, up-to-date source for their financial data and improve how they collaborate with their accountants.” Sequoia partner Luciana Lixandru.
Pennylane is an accounting service platform based in France. It is developing an accounting platform that advances accounting for both clients and their accountants. The startup focuses on small and medium business, and according to the company, more than 1,000 French companies and 100 accounting firms make use of this platform.
Started in 2020 by Arthur Waller et al.(Seven persons co-found Pennylane), Pennylane provides a complete and detailed overview for business owners to run their business with a clear picture of their finances by connecting all financial data. Thus, business owners can make smarter decisions and facilitate their financial management. Without ever leaving the platform, they have access to real-time and accurate data, a smart invoicing tool, and efficient management of expenses.
Business owners use the platform with their existing bookkeeper, in-house or outsourced, or can rely on Pennylane to select an adequate bookkeeper according to their activity, needs, and location.
These days, the company plans to build a "financial operating system" for European small and medium enterprises. According to Techcrunch, "You can imagine a marketplace of services that clients can choose to use in addition to Pennylane's core product."
France in focus
GDP: $2.176 billion compared to Switzerland's 703.082 billion in 2019
Population: 67,005,854 compared to Switzerland's 8,575,280 in 2019
GDP per capita: $40,496 compared to Switzerland's $81,989 in 2019
