Soldo Raises $180M to Revolutionize Business Expense Management

Revolutionizing Expense Management with Modern Solutions

For both employees and accounting teams, managing expenses has traditionally been a significant challenge. Many organizations struggle with outdated software that cannot effectively address contemporary requirements when it comes to tracking and categorizing company spending.

Soldo Secures $180 Million in Funding

A U.K.-based startup, Soldo, is working to modernize this process and has recently announced a substantial funding round to accelerate its expansion. The company provides a platform for issuing prepaid company cards to employees, seamlessly integrated with an automated expense management system.

Soldo has currently amassed a customer base of approximately 26,000, encompassing businesses of all sizes – from small- to medium-sized enterprises, midmarket companies, and even large multinational corporations. Notable clients include Mercedes Benz, GetYourGuide, Gymshark, Bauli, and Brooks Running.

Seamless Integration with Existing Accounting Systems

Furthermore, Soldo offers integration capabilities through APIs with popular accounting software packages such as NetSuite, QuickBooks, Zucchetti, and Xero. It also connects with over 50 expense management platforms, including Concur and Expensify.

Series C Funding Details

This latest funding round, a Series C, is spearheaded by Singapore’s Temasek, with participation from Sunley House Capital, Advent International’s crossover fund, Citi Ventures, and existing investors Accel, Battery Ventures, and Dawn Capital. Silicon Valley Bank has also contributed debt financing, the amount of which remains undisclosed.

Valuation and Growth Trajectory

While Soldo has not publicly revealed its current valuation, PitchBook data indicated a valuation of around $278 million when fundraising commenced in December. The company reported that the round was oversubscribed due to significant growth, with spend volume on its platform increasing fourfold since its Series B round of $61 million in 2019.

(Note: Soldo’s primary operations are based in London, but it maintains a small corporate headquarters in Dublin, having obtained an e-money license in Ireland in 2019 as part of its Brexit strategy.)

Growing Demand for Modern Expense Management

Expense management is currently receiving considerable attention, potentially due to increased remote work or the resumption of business travel. Earlier this month, Pleo, a major competitor to Soldo, secured $150 million in funding at a $1.7 billion valuation.

A Substantial Market Opportunity

The European market for expense management is estimated at a substantial $170 billion, presenting a significant opportunity for growth.

Addressing the Core Challenges of Expense Reporting

Soldo aims to resolve the inherent difficulties in expense management, which often involves fragmented and non-digitized processes. Employees, who are typically not accounting professionals, are tasked with accurately handling expenses. The nature of expenses has also evolved, encompassing subscriptions, travel, home office supplies, and marketing expenditures.

The Pain Points of Traditional Expense Reporting

While digital transactions are easier to track, many expenses still occur offline, leading to issues such as lost receipts, forgotten documentation, and out-of-pocket payments.

Furthermore, expenses are often paid for using corporate cards or bank transfers. Corporate cards can be costly and difficult to control, while bank transfers can be slow and require multiple approvals.

Soldo’s Innovative Approach

Soldo’s solution begins with simplifying the issuance of prepaid employee cards to better control spending. These cards are linked to an app that automatically prompts users to capture and upload receipts at the time of purchase.

A Broader Vision for Spend Management

“Soldo’s vision is to manage the total spend across the breadth of a company, whether that be advertising, software subscriptions, travel and entertainment, vendor management or salaries across all payment methods,” stated Carlo Gualandri, CEO and founder of Soldo, in an email to TechCrunch. “When we look at this way, expense management is only one of the many possible use cases and cards are only one of the many ways that a company might transfer money to suppliers.”

He further emphasized that Soldo has a more comprehensive focus on managing all company needs, extending beyond travel and expenses, which increases the value for customers as a larger portion of their spending is managed through the platform.

Resilience and Adaptation During the Pandemic

The company’s growth experienced a setback with the onset of COVID-19, but its subsequent recovery demonstrates its adaptability in the current market.

Navigating the Challenges of the Pandemic

“The pandemic almost completely wiped out travel and expenses as a use case of companies’ spend — given limited numbers of workers were travelling, or expensing lunches, for example, in lockdown,” explained Gualandri. “It was quite shocking to see all of Europe switch off, country by country, in the first weeks of March of last year as the lockdown kept people in their homes. And with that, a significant part of our financial services revenues also disappeared because business travel is the most common and widespread use of corporate cards.”

However, two key developments occurred: the significant growth in other company spend use cases and the increasing digitalization of finance departments. The shift to remote work and online procurement necessitated card payments, and online marketing spend also increased.

Looking Ahead

“Our experience in software and payments technology gives us deep insight and we are confident Soldo stands at the forefront of finance digitalisation,” said Simon Lambert, a director at Sunley House, Advent International’s crossover fund. “The company operates in a large and fast-growing market, and we are thrilled to partner with its outstanding management team as they seek to build Europe’s leading pay and spend automation platform.”