Pennylane, the Paris-based unicorn building the financial OS for European SMEs, today announced a €175 million funding round to accelerate product investment in AI development and anticipate potential market consolidation.
The round was led by TCV, with participation from Blackstone through funds managed by Blackstone Growth. Existing shareholders, including Sequoia Capital, DST Global, CapitalG, and Meritech Capital, also participated in the round.
Arthur Waller, co-founder and CEO of Pennylane, explained, “We had no immediate need for funding, but the opportunity to partner with investors like TCV and Blackstone with low dilution was a strategic advantage. This gives us the resources to stay fully independent while accelerating our lead in AI and expanding across Europe. Our mission remains unchanged: being the reference tool for accountants and their clients.”
Founded in 2020, Pennylane is a French accounting production and financial management platform for accounting firms and their clients. It provides a single platform for financial and accounting data, used by entrepreneurs to manage invoicing and getting paid, paying suppliers and expense management, piloting cash and profitability, and by accountants for bookkeeping and tax filings.
Pennylane noted that the recent funding occurred during a period of rapid growth that exceeded its initial expectations. The French unicorn also claims that it’s approaching profitability, and this fundraising is reflective of its strategic desire to secure long-term resources to anticipate European market consolidation and the arrival of electronic invoicing.
“Pennylane deliberately selected investors who fully share the company’s vision. These partners operate with a long-term logic and adhere to the company’s governance charter. This charter guarantees the absolute control of the founders, the absence of price increases, and the continuity of the product strategy,” mentioned the company in the press release.
This fresh capital will be deployed towards intensifying its R&D investments across several areas. These include building generative AI tools (such as an analysis-assistant co-pilot for accountants to boost their advisory services to business leaders), product localisation to meet German regulatory requirements, preparing for electronic invoicing by strengthening its infrastructure to facilitate the transition for its users starting in 2026 as an authorised platform, and enriching the payment and cash management offering.
Since 2024, Pennylane has been registered as an Authorised Platform (formerly PDP) by the tax administration, with an electronic invoicing solution already operational. It currently supports over 6,000 firms and 800,000 client companies, and employs 1,000 people.
Last year, in April, the company raised an additional €75 million in a funding round co-led by Sequoia Capital, Capital G, and Meritech. In November 2025, Pennylane officially entered the German market.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2026/01/sequoia-backed-french-accounting-unicorn-pennylane-secures-e175-million-as-it-approaches-profitability/
