Danish startup FlatPay joins the club of European fintech unicorns to track

Summary

Flatpay, which facilitates card payments for SMBs, has joined the ranks of European fintech unicorns — or startups valued at more than $1 billion — a milestone that has driven some of the region’s biggest exits. These include competitors like Adyen, a Dutch payment processing giant that remains far ahead in scale. However, Flatpay’s fresh funding could help it narrow the gap. Flatpay’s bet is that it can challenge larger players by charging small merchants a flat transaction rate to use its card terminals and point-of-sales systems. This focus on a segment that accounts for 99% of European businesses has driven 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 fast pace. Now valued at €1.5 billion ($1.75 billion), the Danish startup reached unicorn status in only three years. But while CEO and co-founder Sander Janca-Jensen is proud of this accomplishment, he has his eyes on another metric: annual recurring revenue (ARR). “We crossed €100 million of ARR in October,” Janca-Jensen told TechCrunch. He added that this amount (approximately $116 million) is increasing by nearly €1 million a day ($1.16 million). “The plan for 2026 is to grow another 300%, so hopefully leave the year with between €400 and €500 million of ARR.” To fund this ambitious growth — since the startup is still unprofitable — Flatpay raised €145 million in its latest round (approximately $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 also participated in that previous round. The newly raised capital will support continued growth in Flatpay’s current markets — Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, and the U.K. — as well as further expansion into one or two new markets next year. Janca-Jensen declined to reveal which ones, but job postings suggest that the Netherlands may be nex...