Berlin banking startup Penta secures €2.2 million seed round
Berlin based Penta, a challenger bank for startups and small businesses, has raised a €2.2 million seed round one month after launching in Germany.
Launched in May last year, Penta moved out of private beta in December with a wait-list comprising 3000 local businesses. The company has set a target of recruiting over 10,000 businesses by the end of 2018.
The investment round was led by Inception Capital, a fintch focused VC based in the UK.
The 20-person startup says the fresh cash will be used to hire more staff and launch a marketplace of third-party products, including automated accounting tools, low-cost currency transfers and multiple card accounts with limits and permissions.
Penta’s CEO and cofounder Lav Odorovic says: “Startup founders and business owners waste so much time and money dealing with annoying admin tasks. That’s why we’re offering the tools that can help you get business banking done in a fraction of the time.”
To coincide with the new funding the fee-free bank has opened its wait-list to new businesses. The bank – which piggy-backs off the banking license of local startup solarisBank – is promising account holders 10 free transactions per month, with a per-transaction charge of €0.10 cents kicking in thereafter.
