Parisian fintech Qonto, a business banking company targeting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and freelancers, has landed €486 million in Series D funding, setting “a new record valuation for a French scale-up” of €4.4 billion.
Qonto co-founders Steve Anavi and Alexandre Prot
The bumper fundraising round, one of the largest in French history, was co-led by new investors Tiger Global and TCV and featured participation from Alkeon, Eurazeo, KKR, Insight Partners, Exor Seeds, Guillaume Pousaz, Gaingels and Ashley Flucas.
Current investors Valar, Alven, DST Global and Tencent also took part in the latest round.
The new cash injection means the start-up has now raised €622 million in total funding.
Launched in 2017, Qonto claims to serve more than 220,000 clients across four countries (France, Germany, Italy and Spain) and employs more than 500 staff.
The firm acts as an “all-in-one finance solution” for SMEs and freelancers, providing business bank accounts, payment methods, financing options and expense management and bookkeeping tools.
Qonto says it wants to become “the finance solution of choice for 1 million European SMEs and freelancers by 2025”.
To support this goal, the start-up says the new funds will go towards expanding its product offering “through in-house development, new strategic partnerships and potential acquisitions” and growing its footprint across Europe.
The company also plans to quadruple its staff headcount to “more than 2,000” by 2025.
