Flatpaythat facilitates card payments for small and medium-sized businesses, has joined the ranks of Europe’s fintech unicorns — or startups valued at more than $1 billion — a milestone that has led to some of the region’s biggest exits. These include competitors such as Adyen, a Dutch payment processing giant that remains well ahead in scale. However, Flatpay’s new funding could help it close the gap.
Flatpay’s bet is that it can challenge bigger players by charging small merchants a fixed transaction rate for using its card terminals and point-of-sale systems. This focus on a segment that represents 99% of European businesses has led to rapid traction: the startup now claims around 60,000 customers, up from 7,000 in April 2024.
Flatpay’s own valuation has grown at a similarly rapid pace. The Danish startup, now valued at 1.5 billion euros ($1.75 billion), reached unicorn status in just three years. But while CEO and co-founder Sander Janca-Jensen is proud of this achievement, he has his eyes on another metric: annual recurring revenue (ARR).
“We passed €100 million ARR in October,” Janca-Jensen told TechCrunch. He added that this amount (about $116 million) is growing by almost 1 million euros a day ($1.16 million). “The plan for 2026 is to grow another 300%, so we hope to leave the year with €400-500 million ARR.”
To fund this ambitious growth — given that the startup is still unprofitable — Flatpay raised 145 million euros in its latest round (about $169 million). The round was backed by AVP Growth and Smash Capital, as well as Dawn Capital, which had led the startup’s $47 million Series B. German soccer player Mario Götze too participated in the previous round.
The new capital raised will support continued growth in Flatpay’s current markets—Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy and the UK—as well as further expansion into one or two new markets next year. Janca-Jensen declined to reveal which ones, but job postings suggest the Netherlands may be next.
Flatpay currently has 1,500 employees — or “flatpayers” — and plans to double that by the end of next year. Headcount growth is a goal the company puts on par with revenue, stating in a press release that it aims to grow 10x by 2029. That may seem unusual, but they’re on par with the company, which integrates its customers in person.
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This stems from his assumption that SMB owners are actively looking for new solutions, even if their current systems are overpriced or inadequate. “That’s where we walk in the door,” Janca-Jensen said. It means this literally — Flatpay comes with pen and paper to explain its pricing and card terminals for live demos. “Every salesperson has that suitcase.”
It’s this hands-on approach that can help Flatpay grow its share in a market that’s also in demand from legacy providers, big fintech players like PayPal, Stripe and SumUp, as well as sector-focused newcomers like hospitality. But the real differentiator may be the knowledge behind it: SMBs want simplicity and Flatpay leaves them ‘ready to go’.
While this entails a higher than average customer acquisition cost, especially when combined with 24/7 customer support, Janca-Jensen said the demand generation allows the startup to grow much faster than it would otherwise. In turn, this triple-digit growth makes Flatpay’s emphasis on human interaction that much more palatable to investors, even during today’s AI-obsessed investment cycle.
The company isn’t ignoring AI entirely – it’s using the technology for real-time operations and is experimenting with voice AI agents. Flatpay also plans to expand further into fintech with a banking suite that will include cards and accounts. For Janca-Jensen, the key is gradual adoption—so that instead of being overwhelmed, SMB owners can “eat the elephant one bite at a time.”
