Company Overview

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Paris, France, Qonto was co-founded by Alexandre Prot and Steve Anavi as a leading European digital bank and payments platform for SMEs. Qonto serves small businesses, freelancers, and startups with fully online business accounts, bringing corporate cards, invoicing, expense management, accounting reconciliation, and financing onto one platform. It serves more than 450,000 customers across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and other markets.

Related provider: Payment Platform

Core Products and Services

  • Business Account: Online opening, multi-currency, multi-user access, real-time transactions
  • Corporate Cards: Physical + virtual cards with custom limits and spend categorization
  • Invoicing: Compliant invoice creation, sending, and payment-status tracking
  • Expense Management: Receipt recognition, automatic categorization, and reimbursement reports
  • Multi-Currency Accounts: USD, GBP, and other foreign-currency accounts with SEPA/SWIFT transfers
  • Qonto Financing: Flexible financing based on transaction history

Core Strengths

  • Fully Online Account Opening: Open a business account in minutes without visiting a branch
  • Unified Finance: Corporate cards, invoicing, expenses, and accounting reconciliation in one platform
  • Accounting Integrations: Deep integrations with QuickBooks, Xero, and other major tools
  • Multi-Currency & Cross-Border: Multi-currency accounts with SEPA/SWIFT transfers

Key Milestones

  • 2016: Founded by Alexandre Prot and Steve Anavi in Paris
  • 2019: Expanded to Italy, becoming a French unicorn
  • 2021: Completed Series D, expanding to Germany and Spain
  • 2022: Acquired German bank Penta to accelerate European expansion
  • 2025: Surpassed 450,000 customers

Market Position

Qonto competes with the following providers in the European SME digital banking market:

  • Revolut Business: Multi-currency business accounts
  • Wise Business: Cross-border collections and multi-currency accounts
  • N26 Business: German digital bank business accounts
  • Shine: French SME digital bank
  • Penta: German SME bank (acquired by Qonto)