The Munich-based HR software provider receives more than €103.5 million ($125 million) in its Series D financing. The financing round, led by existing investor Index Ventures, increases Personio's company valuation to over €1.4 billion ($1.7 billion). The new investment makes the startup one of the most valuable privately held European software companies. At the same time, with the current valuation, the SaaS startup becomes Munich's newest unicorn. In total, the company, co-founded and led by Hanno Renner as CEO, has received over €207 million ($250 million) in financing since its inception.
“One of the most promising companies in Europe”
The provider of the comprehensive HR operating system for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is experiencing strong market demand: Personio doubled its revenue within a year by digitizing and automating HR processes for European SMEs. The startup currently has over 3,000 customers. At the same time, the HR solution's potential for the European market is significant. Of the approximately 1.7 million European SMEs, 70 percent do not currently use HR software.
Martin Mignot, Partner at Index Ventures and Board Member of Personio, explains that SMEs have long been neglected as a target group. He says:
"Personio, on the other hand, has developed a solution specifically tailored to the needs of these small and medium-sized businesses. Under Hanno's leadership, Personio has become one of the most significant and promising companies in Europe. Market demand is enormous, which is leading to rapid growth of the Personio team. We are very pleased to continue working with Hanno and his team."
Focus on European expansion
With the additional capital, Personio will accelerate its expansion in Europe and further expand its existing offering. The startup aims to establish itself as the leading HR platform for companies with 10 to 2,000 employees.
The Series D round was led by existing investor Index Ventures. The British VC, based in London and San Francisco, has previously supported successful software companies such as Slack, Dropbox, and Zendesk through to their IPOs. Personio's other existing investors, Accel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Northzone, Global Founders Capital, and Picus, also participated in the financing round. Meritech, also based in Silicon Valley, is a new co-lead investor. The investor, also based in Silicon Valley, has supported Salesforce, among others, as the company's first external investor.
And, yes, the Series C round With over 62 million euros, it's not that long ago, barely a year ago. A large portion of the capital from the last round is still available, Personio says. Nevertheless, the startup brought forward the next round.
Hanno Renner, Co-founder and CEO of Personio, says:
"This new round of financing comes earlier than expected, as we still have capital available from our Series C round in January 2020. The strong interest and trust of our investors not only demonstrates the added value our HR software brings to customers, but also highlights Personio's immense growth potential. The market is huge and remains underserved; I am convinced that we are still at the very beginning of our development."
Solid foundation for further growth of Personio
With these financial resources, the company is well equipped for several years, enabling it to further develop its cloud-based software solution and drive European expansion, including into France and Italy. To this end, Personio plans to hire new employees and grow from nearly 600 to 1,000 employees in Munich, Madrid, London, and Dublin. Further Acquisitions like that of Rollbox are not currently planned.
Alex Clayton, General Partner at Meritech Capital and newest board member of Personio, comments:
"Given Personio's success over the past five years and its immense market potential, we believe Hanno's team will build an equally successful and significant company. After many inspiring conversations with Hanno over the past few years, we now look forward to accompanying Personio's continued success story."
