Since its launch in 2016, French startup Spendesk has raised €160 million to continue its growth momentum. In 2020, the fintech doubled its customer base, sales and workforce to almost 300 employees.
100 million euros raised
On July 21, Spendesk announced that it had raised €100 million, the second-largest round of financing in France in 2021. It was led by General Altantic, alongside long-standing investors such as Index Ventures and Eight Roads Ventures. The funds raised should enable the startup to consolidate its position as the leading provider of expense management solutions in Europe. In particular, Spendesk intends to double its workforce over the next two years by focusing on product innovation. In the short term, the aim is to establish a long-term presence in key European markets, but also to adapt its solution to the US market, where it has been established for 1 year.
However, competition is fierce in Europe, with Denmark's Pleo and the UK's Soldo also announcing a €152 million fund-raising round. In the United States, large fintechs such as Divvy, Brex and Bill.com monopolize the market. Spendesk will therefore have to make the difference if it wants to maintain its leading position.
A solution for managing operational expenses
Spendesk was created in 2016 by Jordane Giuly, Guilhem Bellion and Rodolphe Ardant to simplify life for businesses. Indeed, while payment methods have been modernized for individuals, professionals have to follow tedious processes: filling out expense reports for organized lunches, requesting the company's payment card to make online purchases, going through a specific service to organize their travel... These actions generate significant expenses for financial teams.
Spendesk offers companies a platform for managing all employee expenses. Whatever their needs and whatever payment method they use, professionals have access to a single graphical interface that gives them visibility over every expense incurred, automating operational and accounting processing.
By freeing companies from certain administrative constraints, Spendesk enables employees to concentrate on their core business and adds value to SMEs.
More than 3,000 corporate customers
The fintech now has over 3,000 corporate customers and 70,000 users who make use of its services every day. Since its creation, its activity has accelerated sharply, with nearly 2.5 billion euros of spending managed in 5 years, including one billion in the last 6 months. The platform earns its revenue from subscriptions, which start at 120 euros a month. It claims to have doubled its revenues in just one year.
The three markets in which Spendesk operates (France, Germany and the UK) are home to 1 million SMEs with between 300 and 1,000 employees, and the company hopes to attract a growing number of them.