Countingup raises £4m to accelerate banking and accounting for small businesses
Countingup, the business current account that automates your accounting, has received the backing of leading fintech investors. The London-based startup has raised £4m in a bridge round of financing led by ING Ventures with co-investment from Triple Point, CVentures and BiG Start Ventures. All are backing the company’s vision to be the one financial hub for 1m small businesses. In the two years since Countingup launched, it now boasts more than twenty thousand customers and has processed almost £1bn in transactions.
Small businesses can open a Countingup business current account on their smartphone in under 5 minutes and the account comes with both banking and accounting features. On top of that, Countingup has recently launched its Accountant Hub, a web-based accounting system that helps accountants manage and collaborate with their SME clients. Founder and CEO, Tim Fouracre, commented, “Countingup is a more automated and accurate alternative to traditional digital bookkeeping software or a shoebox of invoices and receipts. It’s ideal for sole trader clients and solves several customer pain points in one seamless solution.”
Countingup’s solution becomes even more relevant in the digital world with HMRC’s Making Tax Digital (MTD) initiative. In the future, MTD will require that businesses keep digital records and submit quarterly tax filings.
The funds will be used to accelerate the banking and accounting roadmap to make it even easier and more efficient to digitally run a small business.
Fouracre commented on the investment, “We’re thrilled to have ING Ventures on board. ING is a leading pan-European bank that has the reach to open up opportunities for Countingup as we look to expand internationally in the coming years. Following this bridge investment we will seek to do a larger funding round to accelerate growth once normality returns to society and the economy post the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Benoît Legrand, ING’s chief innovation officer and CEO of ING Ventures said: “Countingup is a game-changer for small businesses. This fintech helps in reducing costs and complexity by combining accounting and banking into one digitally disruptive solution, a new approach that makes it so much easier to run a small business. We are proud to support Countingup in delivering that vision.”
Fouracre commented on the impact of the coronavirus on small businesses, “With government instructions to stay at home, the country is turning to digital solutions for everything from entertainment to shopping. If you want to start a business and open a bank account, you can’t go to your local branch right now. With digital offerings like Countingup you don’t need to.”