Finleap is a “startup factory” launched in 2014 with the plan to develop 4-6 startups annually that offer digital services to businesses and consumers. So far, they have developed 16 ventures from scratch, as well as acquiring a number of fintechs.
The acquisition by Finleap will increase the speed at which it expands internationally. This will include launching in Italy in partnership with Beesy, a Finleap portfolio company focusing on digital business banking for freelancers.
Lav Odorović, one of the founders of Penta, described the problems they are solving.
Penta is a bank that startups have never had. It understands the clients’ issues and solves them in real time. In practice, this means that businesses can open a bank account online easily without having to wait for 2-6 weeks and without having to make 1-4 branch office visits in person. Also, our UX is more similar to Airbnb and Uber than legacy applications from the end of the last century, which banks in Europe often still keep alive.
Last but not least, our clients save a lot of money and time so they can do more business and less banking.
To date, Penta counts over 5,500 business clients, including AirHelp, bepro11, and Global Digital Women. Although it is focused on Germany since its founding in 2016, the plan has always been to become a pan-European bank.
Over the next year, Penta plans to add direct debits, SME loans, international transfers and more.
Luka Ivičević, the second co-founder of Penta, expressed satisfaction with this acquisition for Techcrunch:
The decision to go with Finleap was a strategic one. Becoming part of the Finleap ecosystem enables us to accelerate our growth inside and outside of Germany at an unprecedented pace.
Meanwhile, Finleap CEO Ramin Niroumand stated that Penta will remain an independent business and that Finleap will not be a part of the operational management of Penta. However, Penta will be able to benefit from Finleap’s resources and expertise. “Penta will be able to get strong support from Finleap’s team of top talents,” he says.
