Qonto

France-based Qonto offers banking products to SMEs and freelancers via a web portal and a mobile app. The company offers banking products, which include an online banking account for SMEs and freelancers, debit cards, and money transfer facilities. The company operates a subscription business model and offers its products under four tiers, with prices varying based on the type of accounts (Company Creators, Self-employed, Micro-business and SMEs). Additional features offered under paid packages include unlimited numbers of virtual cards, the number of accounts that can be separately created under one main account, and unlimited SWIFT transfers.

The company also provides debit cards (physical and virtual). These are offered under three categories: 1) One, 2) Plus, and 3) X (metal). The company claims to be the only neobank that offers metal cards for professionals and facilitates SWIFT transfers from overseas countries. ‘One’ cards are included in all packages by default, although the number of cards issued may vary based on the package selected. Plus cards cost an additional EUR 8 per month, while X cards are priced at EUR 20 per month.

In addition to banking products, the company offers services such as automated bookkeeping, financial management tools, and access to crypto investments in partnership with Coinhouse (available only to users in France as of May 2024). Furthermore, it has partnered with FinTech October to provide loans up to EUR 30,000 (~USD 34,000) as well as Cashbee to offer term deposits and a trading account.

In addition, Qonto’s app integrates with Apple Pay and Google Pay, allowing customers to make contactless payments directly via their mobiles. The app also facilitates the transfer of money, both within and outside France.

In July 2022, Qonto acquired its German rival–Penta, for an undisclosed amount. Through the acquisition, it aimed to become the market leader in Germany (the largest European SME banking market) and build on the expertise to accelerate growth across all markets. Qonto announced that all Penta customers will be onboarded to its banking platform by the end of 2023, and will operate under a single brand. In March 2024, the company completed its second acquisition, by acquiring Regate, a French company specializing in accounting automation software, for an undisclosed amount. Qonto plans to combine Regate’s platform with its offerings to enhance its accounting automation features.

Key customers and partnerships

As of May 2024, the company operated in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, serving ~450,000 business customers, and aimed to reach one million customers by 2025.

Funding and financials

In January 2022, Qonto raised USD 552 million in a Series D funding round co-led by Tiger Global and TCV, at a valuation of USD 5 billion. The company intended to funnel the fresh capital into product development, customer acquisition, and recruitment, with plans to quadruple its team to 2,000 and reach 1 million customers by 2025. It also planned to invest EUR 100 million (~USD 113 million) in each of its existing markets in France, Germany, Spain and Italy through 2024, as well as entering new markets in Europe by 2023. This was followed by a crowdfunding campaign in April 2022, where the company raised EUR 5 million (USD 5.4 million) from investment platform Crowdcube with participation from customers of more than 1,800 companies.