Feedback: Spendesk, a French unicorn in hypergrowth

The French specialist in enterprise expense management Spendesk has multiplied the fundraising in recent months, supporting its growth. But the nice announcements should not, as is often the case in the neo-banking market, make us forget that the start-up can be long.

FACTS

• Spendesk recorded €8.2 million in revenue in 2020, twice the amount in 2019.

• The FinTech also managed to punctuate its 2021 year with the completion of a new Series C fundraising of €100 million.

• In the face of this, Spendesk also blew up its losses, which reached more than 18 million euros in the year 2020.

• This last figure, however, did not prevent the FinTech from continuing its development. It thus had 150 employees in 2019, compared to nearly 300 after the crisis.

• Since its creation in 2016, Spendesk has managed to convince some 3,000 corporate customers who are now using its expense management services.

• These generate, via their subscriptions, 56% of the FinTech's revenue, with the rest coming from :

  • the use of its services via Banking-as-a-Service platforms such as Bankable (for 41%),

  • the interchange fees charged on the purchases made with Spendesk cards.

• Spendesk also hopes to double its subscription revenues by the end of the year.

CHALLENGES

• Expanding at all costs: In total, Spendesk has raised €160 million in funding. The FinTech, which has experienced a very strong growth, plans to recruit 300 employees by the end of 2022, including a hundred people by the end of the year.

• An effort of transparency: If the majority of the French start-ups play the card of the retention of information, preferring to pay minimal fines rather than to publish their balance sheets, Spendesk made for its part the choice of the transparency. Its results, however inconvenient, have been made public.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• The French market represents about 60% of Spendesk's turnover. Although young, the FinTech can already count on its other markets to generate its future profits.

• However, it will have to rely on Europe (Germany and the United Kingdom in particular) since, according to its local results, Spendesk has not been able to set up its service in the United States.