While funding may be scarce for some, Europe’s fastest-growing startups still have their pick.
The latest beneficiary of that investor appetite is Finom, a five-year-old, Amsterdam-based challenger bank that targets small and medium-size businesses across Europe. The company, which claims to have doubled its revenue in 2024, just closed a €115 million Series C equity round (around $133 million), TechCrunch learned exclusively. This comes only a few weeks after it landed $105 million in growth funding from General Catalyst, its backer since 2021.
Finom’s business model centers on providing European SMBs with a financial platform that combines banking, invoicing, and a growing range of features, including AI-enabled accounting. “Because theoretically, entrepreneurs don’t need to have an accountant at all,” said CEO Andrey Petrov (on the far left in the picture).
The startup’s ambitious growth targets reflect this vision. While Petrov says Finom’s goal of having one million business customers by the end of 2026 is motivational and not set in stone, its new funding makes that target slightly more attainable.
This belief that Finom could serve a fair share of Europe’s 26 million SMBs is also reflected in its Series C. The round was led by AVP (formerly AXA Venture Partners), with participation from new investor Headline (formerly e.ventures) through Headline Growth. Existing investors Cogito Capital, General Catalyst, and Northzone also joined the round.
Despite this momentum, the startup may find it easier to win clients over from legacy banks — its current plan — than from other fintechs.
Even after its Series C brought its total funding to roughly $346 million, Finom has far less external capital than Monzo, N26, Revolut, or Wise, which all raised more than $1 billion. Its funding to date is more comparable to the approximately $700 million raised by Finom’s closest peer, French unicorn Qonto — though the comparison isn’t perfect.
Techcrunch event Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Boston, MA | REGISTER NOW
What makes Finom’s funding structure particularly interesting is its non-traditional component. Unlike typical VCs, General Catalyst took no equity in Finom with its non-traditional round; the capital from its Customer Value Fund (CVF) can only be used for growth, which is how it plans to get its money back.
Combined with the Series B, this non-traditional funding round would have been enough for the Dutch company to reach profitability, according to chairman and co-founder Kos Stiskin (on the far right in the picture). But Finom was also hoping to raise equity by the end of the year, and get a “good and nice” new valuation in the process. What it didn’t anticipate was closing both deals so close to each other.
... continue reading