French fintech Qonto is already worth €4.4 billion, after raising €486 million in a Series D round, as reported a few days ago. Because of this, the startup anticipates invest 100 million in Spain in the next two years. A part of this amount will be allocated to the creation of a new hub for customer service operations based in Barcelona, with which Qonto aspires to maintain its outstanding support for its clients in parallel with its growth, and will also allow it to continue incorporating its local team until reaching 100 employees in our country, in 2023.
The last round has been led by Tiger Global and TCV, in addition to eight more additions to its capital: Alkeon, Eurazeo, KKR, Insight Partners, Exor Seeds, Guillaume Pousaz, Gaingels, and Ashley Flucas. These new investors will join Valar, Alven, DST Global and Tencent, who have renewed their support for the company with their participation in this new round.
Since its launch in 2017, Qonto has been committed to building the first all-in-one financial solution for SMEs and the self-employed. The company currently has with more than 220,000 clients in four markets –France, Spain, Germany and Italy–, and, with this new round of financing, its ambition is to become the financial management solution chosen by one million European SMEs and freelancers in 2025.
To support these ambitious objectives, Qonto foresees:
- Follow expanding its product offering through internal development, the formalization of new strategic partnerships and the possible realization of acquisitions, to guarantee that it offers its clients the best product on the market.
- Follow increasing its penetration in Spain, Germany and Italy. In 2021, the company opened its offices in Barcelona, Berlin and Milan to build a tailored offer for each market, root itself in its various ecosystems to establish long-term local partnerships and accommodate its growing team. Qonto is expanding very fast in these markets, where it has quadrupled its revenue in the last two years. And the round will accelerate that momentum in Europe, with an expected investment of €100 million in each market (Spain, Germany and Italy) over the next two years. Qonto also plans to reinforce its leadership at a European level with its launch in new markets in 2023, and in 2025 it expects that 75% of its new customers will come from outside France.
- Recruit new talent and quadruple your team until exceeding 2,000 employees in 2025, with 50% of these incorporations outside France. To reinforce its international recruitment strategy and meet the expectations of an increasingly mobile talent, the company will also launch the European ‘Qonto Campus’ program to enable international mobility between its local offices.
Investment of 100 million in Spain
“Over the course of the last year we have seen strong adoption of Qonto in Spain, with growth in our 240% revenue. This Series D round marks a turning point for Qonto and will allow us to reinforce our leadership in the Spanish market. Our roadmap to achieve this is very clear: in the next two years we will invest more than 100 million euros in our market, which will allow us to hire the most talented professionals and focus on offering the best tailor-made service», Explain Carles Marcos, Country Manager of Spain.
In the last year, Qonto has registered a strong development in our country thanks to the opening of its Spanish headquarters and local office in Barcelona to accommodate its rapidly growing team, currently numbering around 30 professionals. Likewise, and in terms of product, last year the company launched a comprehensive business creation service in Spain, forming a network of 21 local partners made up of companies such as Holded, Declaring or Quipu, and provided its clients in our country with a wide range of services that encompass ordinary banking management but also accounting tools and solutions for managing expenses.
At the end of the year, Qonto has established itself as one of the benchmark B2B neobanks in Spain, and the only one that provides an ‘all-in-one’ solution to SMEs and the self-employed with bank accounts for companies with a local IBAN.
On behalf of the investors who have participated in this round, John Curtius, a partner at Tiger Global, points out that: “Qonto has revolutionized financial management for SMEs and freelancers by combining simplicity and a true ‘all-in-one’ service. The company has seen a significant increase in its customers across its European markets during the pandemic, showing that customer needs are evolving in these unprecedented times. We have followed Qonto’s incredible growth for some time and are delighted to partner with their entire team and support their mission to serve a rapidly growing European market.”
“At TCV, we love supporting visionary founders and couldn’t be more excited to partner with Alex, Steve and the rest of the Qonto team.”, it states John Doran, General Partner of TCV. “We look forward to supporting them as they continue to bring the best banking and financial solutions to millions of SMEs and freelancers across Europe.”
