Paris’ Pennylane raises $43M to become unicorn. 2 other stories and a trivia

This line-up of stories will help you discover the latest happenings around the tech world, today.

1. Paris’ Pennylane raises $43M to become unicorn

Paris-based accounting firm, Pennylane, has raised $43 million in Series C funding from existing investors DST and Sequoia, catapulting the company into unicorn status.

The CEO and founder, Arthur Waller, confirmed the funding round in a statement seen by Ripples Nigeria on Thursday, February 8, 2024.

Established in 2020, Pennylane collaborates with 120,000 SMEs and 2,000 accounting firms to streamline and digitize their accounting procedures.

Utilizing a SaaS model, the company aggregates third-party data from platforms such as Stripe and Qonto to assist SMEs with their accounting requirements, enabling them to consolidate receipts, invoices, and country-specific VAT rates.

Pennylane’s future endeavors include the acquisition of complementary firms, expansion of its workforce, and further enhancement of its AI tools, with the objective of delivering added value to accounting firms, which will soon confront the advent of mandatory electronic invoicing.

Arthur remarked, “We’ve experienced substantial growth in both users and revenues, all without significant increases in our sales and marketing expenditure.

“Our investors demonstrated interest in reinvesting capital into the company even when it was not imperative, allowing us to expedite our product development.”

Discussing the company’s next strategic steps, Waller emphasized, “Our primary goal is to ensure adequate cash reserves to seize potential consolidation opportunities,” he stated.

“We aim to acquire firms that complement our product portfolio, rather than merely expanding our customer base. Furthermore, we have no intentions of international expansion; our focus remains on mastering the core accounting domain.”

This latest funding round follows previous successful rounds, including raising €4 million in 2020, €15 million in 2021 (twice), €50 million in 2022, and €30 million in 2023.

Trivia: An SLA may stand for a Software License Agreement or what?

A. System Load Agreement
B. Service Level Agreement
C. Separate Limited Agreement
D. Scaling Legal Agreement

See Answer below

2. UK-based Atlantic Money secures regulatory green light

Atlantic Money, a UK-based fintech start-up,
has received regulatory clearance to extend its fixed-fee money transfer services to the US, Canada, and Australia.

The CEO and co-founder, Neeraj Baid, confirmed this in a statement seen by Ripples Nigeria on Thursday February 8, 2024.

The fintech plans to offer both individual and business services in Canada as a foreign money services business licensed by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), and as an independent remittance dealer in Australia licensed by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC).

Headquartered in London, and currently boasts of a clientele of 10,000 customers across 32 countries worldwide, Atlantic Money initially launched its services in the UK and Europe in 2022 after obtaining approval as a payments institution from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the National Bank of Belgium.

Supported by investors such as Amplo, Ribbit Capital, Index Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, 20VC, Day One Ventures, Nordstar, and Elefund, which facilitated a seed funding round of $7.5 million, the fintech aims to compete with industry giants like Remitly and Wise.

Neeraj highlights the significance of obtaining approvals in the “key regions” of the US, Canada, and Australia, stating that it aligns with their mission of providing customers with reliable, secure fixed-fee transfers.

3. Dubbing startup CAMB.AI secures $4M seed investment

CAMB.AI, an Artificial Intelligence dubbing startup based in the UAE, has announced raising $4 million in a seed funding round spearheaded by Courtside Ventures, alongside contributions from TRTL Ventures, Blue Star Innovation Partners, Ikemori Ventures, and Eisaburo Maeda.

The CEO, Avneesh Prakash, confirmed this in a statement seen by Ripples Nigeria on Thursday, February 8, 2024.

Established in 2022 by Avneesh Prakash and his son Akshat Prakash, CAMB.AI specializes in speech AI technology, enabling instantaneous dubbing of performances in over 100 languages, dialects, and accents while preserving the original nuances of the voices.

Headquartered in Dubai, the startup has garnered over 100 million views for its dubbed content since its inception.

The company boasts a clientele that includes Major League Soccer, Tennis Australia, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, celebrity chef Nick DiGiovanni, YouTuber Narin Beauty, YouTuber BeerBiceps, as well as various live sports properties, media companies, and creators.

Trivia Answer: Service Level Agreement

In the computer world, an “SLA” may refer to either 1) a software license agreement, or 2) a service level agreement.

A software license agreement (also called an end user license agreement or EULA) is a contract between the software developer and the user. While boxed software used to come with a hard copy of the SLA, most software license agreements are now distributed digitally

A service level agreement is a contract between a service provider and a user. In most cases, the agreement is between a business and a consumer, though SLAs may be established between two business as well. In either case, the SLA defines specific services that are guaranteed over a given amount of time, often for a specific price.

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