France-based challenger bank Qonto has collected €20m in its Series B round of funding.
The investment was supported by existing backers Alven Capital and Valar Ventures, as well as new investor the European Investment Bank Group.
Qonto is an entirely digital bank for SMEs and freelancers, to support their business account needs. The company has served 25,000 customers and a total transaction volume of €1.7bn since it launched last year, according to the company.
The company offers customers a French IBAN, transfers and debits in 18 currencies, a physical and virtual MasterCard, accounting and expense tracking tools, real-time balance updates, and transparent pricing, among other services.
Through this financing, Qonto hopes to accelerate its growth plan and attract more European customers over the next three years. Capital will also be put towards building product and technical developments and expand into a selection of new markets.
Alongside this, the company will look to expand its team from 90 up to 190 employees, with a particular focus on its engineering and product development teams.
Alven partner Raffi Kamber said, “Past years banking innovations focused on individual clients, but completely overlooked business clients, and Qonto fixed this market asymmetry. The team has launched a service that offers an unprecedented user experience. They are definitely building the next European leader, and we are continuously impressed by their vision and agility.”
This series brings the company’s total funding efforts up to €32m. Last year, the company netted €10m in its Series A round which was led by Alven and Valar.
Earlier in the year, fellow French self-employed banking app Shine raised €8m in its own round of funding. The company offers self-employed individuals with a banking app and personalised MasterCard to support their finances.
Copyright © 2018 FinTech Global
