French Pennylane collects 75 million euro and expands to Germany

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Welcome to another newsletter. This time, there are ten short news to explore, an updated Pennylane article to read and some interesting interviews and podcasts at the end to consume.

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💡 TaxTech News

• Two acquisitions: Finmatics (Si apre in una nuova finestra) gets acquired by Visma (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and Austrian fiskaly (Si apre in una nuova finestra) buys DF Deutsche Fiskal GmbH (Si apre in una nuova finestra). (Link1 (Si apre in una nuova finestra), Link2 (Si apre in una nuova finestra))

• Two embedded banking news: Qonto (Si apre in una nuova finestra) quietly launches embedded banking product “Qonto Embed,” offering embedded financial services and Dutch bookkeeping software SnelStart (Si apre in una nuova finestra) follows Accountable (Si apre in una nuova finestra)’s lead and starts offering an integrated banking experience. (Link1 (Si apre in una nuova finestra), Link2 (Si apre in una nuova finestra))

• Two personnel updates: Thomas Herzog (Si apre in una nuova finestra) leaves his position as Chief Product Officer at Kontist by Ageras (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and Qonto’s Head of Product Maxime Champoux (Si apre in una nuova finestra) departs after six and a half years. (Link1 (Si apre in una nuova finestra), Link2 (Si apre in una nuova finestra))

• While the German taxtech world discusses private equity investing in tax advisories, EQT Group (Si apre in una nuova finestra)’s fund EQT X invests in WTS Deutschland (Si apre in una nuova finestra) with the goal to make it the fifth member of the “Big Four.” (Link (Si apre in una nuova finestra))

More updates

• Accountable announces its AI Tax Advisor is used by thousands of its users. (Link (Si apre in una nuova finestra))

• b'steuern (Si apre in una nuova finestra) announces double-digit user numbers and a partnership with Qonto. They’re also looking to expand their podcast presence. (Link1 (Si apre in una nuova finestra), Link2 (Si apre in una nuova finestra))

• DivTax (Si apre in una nuova finestra) has new branding and announces a one-click depot import function for DivvyDiary (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and Parqet (Si apre in una nuova finestra) customers. (Link (Si apre in una nuova finestra))

• Moss (Si apre in una nuova finestra) announces 40 million annual recurring revenue and new Chief Risk Officer Jan Stechele (Si apre in una nuova finestra) (ex-N26, ex-BayernLB). (Link (Si apre in una nuova finestra))

• New Zealand-based Taxi (Si apre in una nuova finestra), transforming provisional tax payments into a credit line, wins law change on borrowing against provisional tax. (Link (Si apre in una nuova finestra))

• Norman (Si apre in una nuova finestra) announces Tide (Si apre in una nuova finestra) partnership for easier German tax number registration, the third partnership after previous collaborations with Finom (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and Qonto. (Link (Si apre in una nuova finestra))

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🇫🇷 French Pennylane collects 75 million euro and expands to Germany

A hidden German landing page (Si apre in una nuova finestra), a German GmbH in Munich (Si apre in una nuova finestra) – with CEO Arthur Waller (Si apre in una nuova finestra) as Managing Director since March 2025 – and now the official announcement: Pennylane (Si apre in una nuova finestra) collects 75 million euro in funding (Si apre in una nuova finestra) at a two billion euro valuation and is entering the German market in the next months, with further European expansion planned. (Last week, TaxTech News already reported the funding round and the expansion to Germany based on initial rumors here (Si apre in una nuova finestra).)

Sorry, how much?

Paris-based Pennylane, founded in 2020, has raised 138,5 million euro before this 75 million euro round and employs around 550 people. The 138,5 million euro are made up as follows:

1. 4 million euro Seed Round with lead investor Global Founders Capital (Rocket Internet) in 2020

2. 15 million euro Series A with lead investor Hedosophia in 2021

3. 50 million euro Series B with lead investor Sequoia Capital in 2022

4. 29,5 million euro Series C with lead investor DST Global in 2023

5. 40 million Euro Series C with lead investors DST Global and Sequoia Capital in 2024

What's ahead for German customers?

The German landing page invites you to sign up for a product demo. The full product will reportedly launch in summer 2025, allowing you to manage your finances, accounting, and business bank account in one place.

A significant challenge

Pennylane faces the challenge of entering Europe's biggest bookkeeping and tax market. While Lexware (Si apre in una nuova finestra) Office has rebranded, sevdesk (Si apre in una nuova finestra) has just been acquired by Cegid (Si apre in una nuova finestra), expanding its European presence. And Accountable (Si apre in una nuova finestra), a thriving do-it-yourself accounting and tax software for the self-employed, recently launched its banking offering in partnership with Swan (Si apre in una nuova finestra). These three competitors alone are already prepared and, judging by their recent activity, vigilant. Ready to react if necessary.

So again, competing with these German industry leaders is a big challenge for Pennylane, because these established players are not only active, but already offer well-defined software with extensive German tax expertise at an affordable price.

Of course, Pennylane also has some experience to offer, with a very successful product in France, where they provide a bookkeeping tool, but also connect small and medium-sized businesses with tax advisors. (A market so interesting that Denmark's Ageras (Si apre in una nuova finestra) bought French bank Shine (Si apre in una nuova finestra) to get a slice of it). In addition, the new funding round is completed – doubling its valuation a year ago. Money well spent for a German market entry, but, make no mistake, no guarantee of success. Just look at Austrian company Taxefy® (Si apre in una nuova finestra), a personal do-it-yourself tax app, which is still trying to gain any significant traction since its official launch in Germany in 2024 - despite also being well-funded.

Full steam ahead

It will be interesting to see how and if the German bookkeeping and tax market is affected by Pennylane's entry. Regardless of what this article may suggest, Pennylane is not hesitating and expects to employ more than 200 people across its operations in 2025; getting ready for expansion in France, Germany and beyond.

🎙️ TaxTech Talks

• april (Si apre in una nuova finestra)’s CEO Ben Borodach (Si apre in una nuova finestra) discusses their unique approach, AI’s role in tax filing, B2B2C model success, and the future of taxtech in the Slice of Finance podcast. (Link (Si apre in una nuova finestra))

• In “ZEIT für Unternehmer,” Christian Steiger (Si apre in una nuova finestra), CEO of Lexware, was interviewed about the upcoming AI transformation after completing the cloud transformation. (Link (Si apre in una nuova finestra), page 52)

• milia.io (Si apre in una nuova finestra)’s Michel Menk (Si apre in una nuova finestra) talks in Innolab IT’s podcast with Thomas L. (Si apre in una nuova finestra) about setting up a German tax advisory. (Link (Si apre in una nuova finestra))

• sevdesk’s Director Product Armin Bognar (Si apre in una nuova finestra) (ex-Chief Product Officer of wundertax) shares insights on building a high growth product. (Link (Si apre in una nuova finestra))

• TAXMARO (Si apre in una nuova finestra)’s CEO Steffen Minier (Si apre in una nuova finestra) discusses payroll accounting challenges and opportunities in the digital world on Innolab IT’s podcast with Thomas Liermann. (Link (Si apre in una nuova finestra))

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TaxTech News is supported by: wundertax (Si apre in una nuova finestra) CEO and founder Daniel Hanemann (Si apre in una nuova finestra). wundertax offers a do-it-yourself tax filing solution in Germany.

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