The France’s Qonto, a small business banking platform, will buy Penta in Germany to enable it serve one million SMEs by 2025.
Qonto in France will acquire German Penta and merge them as it aims to build a customer base of up to a million European SMEs and freelancers by 2025.
Penta is based in Berlin, Germany and provides diverse banking, budgeting and bookkeeping solutions for smaller companies within this country. This would lead to additional 50k customers from Penta joining the already existing clientele of Qonto’s that serves 250k in Italy, Spain, France and Germany at present.
“Joining forces with Penta presents an exciting opportunity for Qonto as well as itself and together they will be more than the sum of their parts,” said Qonto in a statement. Additionally, acquisition of Penta brings local market expertise required to continue our European expansion as well as having like-minded missions and cultures.
To become SMEs’ preferred finance provider
“When my co-founder Steve Anavi and I created Qonto back in 2016 we had a bold objective which was simple; to simplify everyday banking for SMEs and freelancers throughout Europe,” elucidates Alexandre Prot-CEO of Qonto. “We are currently operating in four European markets however while I am happy with what we have accomplished so far there is still more room for improvement. And thus teaming up with Penta was the next step forward. We are excited about having the entire team from Penta on board. Thereby we can offer the most loved financial solution for one million European SMEs & Freelancers by 2025.”
Markus Pertlwieser (CEO at Penta) added: “In [Pent’a’s] Lukas Zörner they have written with his co-founders a true fintech success story which has further gained momentum over the past 18 months through increasing customer numbers and rising revenues. It is a great pleasure for us to now have the opportunity of shaping digital business banking in Europe together with Qonto.”
As per a notice posted by the two companies, this merger will be concluded soon.
This latest transaction builds on Qonto’s impressive growth in Germany
Qonto Paris (France) continues to grow via acquisition as part of its expansion strategy. Having started operating in 2017, it has been providing an all-in-one finance solution for SMEs and freelancers. Over the last few years, there has been tremendous development within this segment with several fintech solutions coming up. French B2B payments platform Hero recently raised €12m.
Qonto makes everyday banking and financing easier not forgetting simplifying invoicing, bookkeeping as well as spending management. Its tools help small businesses focus on what they do every day. Steve Anavi and Alexandre Prot have always wanted to create a pan-European brand since they launched it which will materialize from its tie-up with Penta based out of Germany. However, with a gap of 700k customers left behind before reaching their goal, Qonto must bridge this within just three years.
Nevertheless, it is not scared of what lies ahead. In the previous year, Germany emerged as Qonto’s fastest growing market with 170% customer growth rate YoY. The purchase of Penta by Qonto will make it “the leading player in the German market” and also strengthen its presence in the largest SME banking market in Europe thereby enabling it to realize more growth opportunities across all its markets. After that, their headcount would then rise to 900 employees that are mostly located at France, Belgrade Serbia and Germany as well.