Launched at the end of 2017, the digital bank Penta now slips under the financial specialist company builder Finleap. The company announced this in Berlin. Accordingly, Penta should work closely with Finleaps subsidiary Beesy in the future. This also offers business accounts, but so far is only active in Italy. The purchase price was not communicated by the companies.
Penta co-founder Luka Ivicevic confirmed on request from WirtschaftsWoche founders. Now Finice is joined by Ivicevic and his three co-founders Jessica Holzbach, Lukas Zörner and Lav Odorovic partners of Penta. With the exception of former CEO Odorovic, the founders are still operating in the operating business. The transaction will replace the previous donors, which include Inception Capital from the United Kingdom. Penta had received seven million euros from investors in October 2018 following a 2.2 million euro seed financing.
Investing in Finleap was a strategic decision, Ivicevic said. Finleap brings new assets to Penta as a company builder, including his international focus. The plan is already a start in Italy, the home market of Beesy. Beesy and Penta have the same vision to make business accounts simple and digital so they can focus on their business.
5,500 corporate customers
A merger of the two companies is currently not planned, so the Ivicevic. Under the roof of Finleap Penta will offer its services as before, the entire team has been taken over. But the startup wants to introduce new features faster. For example, direct debits and credits are planned. According to their own data, Penta currently has 5,500 customers.
Finleap CEO Ramin Niroumand said their strong network can significantly accelerate Penta’s expansion. Since its founding in 2014, Finleap has built 16 companies and added more. The portfolio includes, for example, the digital insurer Clark and the banking platform Solarisbank. Beesy was the first establishment abroad. Most recently, Finleap merged Hamburg based banking services provider Figo with the Berlin financial technology platform Finreach Solutions.
Especially with business accounts, apart from Penta, the German Fintech Kontist is also on the way. The Berlin based company also acquired the Haufe Group as an investor in autumn. Kontist’s main offer is self employed and freelancers, while Penta targets start ups and small businesses up to 30 employees.
Also published on Medium.