Holded, the Business Operating System for SMEs, has closed a €6M Series A round. The round was led by Lakestar, with existing early investors Nauta Capital and Seedrocket 4Founders Capital also contributing.
The fresh capital will accelerate the Barcelona-based start-up’s growth into international markets, enabling the company to double its team and strengthen the platform’s core functionality.
Founded in 2016 by Bernat Ripoll and Javi Fondevila, Holded is a Business Operating System specifically designed to help business owners seamlessly manage every aspect of their business from a single platform.
Holded gives its clients full operational capacity, from financial management such as accounting and invoicing to HR, CRM, and project and inventory management. In addition, Holded’s customisable platform offers multiple integration capabilities, allowing its customers to connect with popular solutions such as Amazon, Paypal and Shopify while simultaneously automating their core business tasks.
According to the European Commission Enterprise and Industry, more than 90% of the 23 million SMEs in Europe are micro-sized businesses employing up to 10 people. These entities often lack the resources needed to run their businesses efficiently – this is the problem that Holded is solving.
Since closing their seed round in early 2018, Holded has grown significantly with the number of users increasing from 10,000 to 30,000 in just 12 months.
Bernat Ripoll, Holded’s co-founder said: “After launching Holded, we quickly noticed the virality of our software. We never wanted to be just another software – we wanted to develop a full Business Operating System – a next generation Enterprise-Resource-Planning (ERP) – addressing the modern needs of modern companies. We provide a platform that addresses the key needs of small businesses, and one that lets users start working straight away from any location, on any device. This is our value-add as SMEs spend a lot of time searching for and evaluating new software; they then need to migrate their data, and finally integrate with the rest of their applications. With Holded, we are saving them time and resources and making their companies fit for a sustainable future.”
INVESTMENT ROUND
Commenting on the new round of investment, Javi Fondevila, co-founder of Holded, highlighted the company’s potential for growth:
“For us, securing this investment from an international VC such as Lakestar, is a strong sign of confidence. This move from one of the world’s most highly regarded investors, who have invested in disruptive and successful companies such as Facebook, Spotify and AirBnB shows that we are making an impact on how our SME clients run their businesses. We have become the #1 cloud-based solution in Spain in just 24 months, and now aim to replicate this in other countries while continuing to consolidate the Spanish market, by continuing to add new product features and country-specific integrations.” added Javi, co-founder of Holded.”