Dematerialized Invoice: new fund raising for Libeo

FACTS

• The young Parisian company Libeo, specialized in BtoB invoice management and payment, has just announced a new fund raising. This is an opportunity to raise its objectives and aim for a wider European expansion.

• The business-to-business payment platform raised 20 million euros, the largest transaction in its history.

• This roundtable was conducted with DST Global, Serena, LocalGlobe and Breega, as well as renowned business angels (founders and directors of Transferwise, iZettle, Klarna, Farfetch and Criteo).

• This is the third round of financing in just over a year, but still in Series A.

• As a reminder, Libeo secures VSE-SME transactions by connecting them directly via APIs, allowing them to make payments without having to enter an IBAN, but a simple e-mail with a payment link.

• Pricing: subscription between 25 and 175 euros per month + 50 cents per transaction beyond a certain number of transactions included. 

• Libeo is now considering imposing its service for dematerialization, validation and payment of supplier invoices throughout Europe.

CHALLENGES

• A very strong need for dematerialization that emerged during the health crisis: in 2020, the volume of payments processed by Libeo was multiplied by 30, reaching 100 million euros per year. It has grown by 20 to 30% every month since then. Libeo thus underlines its commitment to making the administrative processing of payments and invoices more automatic for SMEs thanks to digital technology. FinTech believes that beyond its own offerings, SMEs are increasingly using digital tools to manage their administrative tasks remotely. A necessary evolution, since a Eurostat study in 2019 estimated that 3 out of 4 company owners still manage their invoices manually.

• FinTech also plans to triple its workforce to more than 100 employees by the end of the year.

• Expand its functionalities: among its next developments, Libeo plans to launch a "Libeo Pay" button, integrated directly into the Quickbooks platform, to allow customers to pay their invoices in just a few clicks. Libeo also wants to launch new APIs to make payment options even more flexible (Slack integration or deferred debit payment for example).

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• Libeo conducted a study in 2020 that shows the administrative burden of managing invoices:
  • SMEs process and pay an average of 67 invoices per month.
  • In the digital sector, this figure amounts to 130 invoices per month on average.
  • 52% of invoices are processed by the founder himself.
  • 1/4 manage their invoices in the evening, after 7pm, but also on weekends.

 KEY FIGURES

• 2019: creation
• more than 35,000 corporate clients, including Eurosanté clinics, Champagne Alain Edouard, Chateau Laguiole, Bodyguard app, Cali Sisters, Paname Collections and franchises (Monoprix, Starbucks)
• 26 million euros raised
• Objective: exceed one billion euros in payment flows processed within 18 to 24 months