Berlin based Penta, a challenger bank for startups and small businesses, has raised EUR8 million in an investment round led by HV Holtzbrinck Ventures.
HV counts major fintech and tech players such as payment provider SumUp, digital wealth manager Scalable Capital and mobility pioneer Flixbus within its portfolio.
Launched in May last year, Penta moved out of private beta in December with a wait-list comprising 3000 local businesses. The company, which has previously raised EUR7.2 million in funding, currently counts 5,500 digital businesses like AirHelp, bepro11 and Global Digital Women as customers.
It was acquired by fintech venture builder finleap in April and integrated with Beesy, another company from the Berlin-based fintech factory, which provides digital financial management for sole proprietors and self-employed persons in Italy. Finleap also installed Marko Wenthin, co-founder and former COO of solarisBank as CEO.
Penta now employs 50 staff working at three offices located in Berlin, Milan and Belgrade.
Says Wenthin: "This funding will allow us to further invest into our product and partnerships to become the financial platform of choice for small and medium sized companies. Additionally, we will push the internationalisation of Penta, starting with Italy this year."