Danish startup Flatpay joins the club of European fintech unicorns to track | TechCrunch

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 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 next.

Flatpay currently has 1,500 staffers — or “flatpayers” — and plans to double that by the end of next year. Increasing headcount is a goal the company puts on the same level as revenue, stating in a press release that it aims to grow both by 10x by 2029. This may seem unusual, but they go hand-in-hand for the company, which onboards its customers in person.

This stems from its hypothesis that SMB owners actively look for new solutions, even if their current systems are overpriced or insufficient. “That’s where we come in the door,” Janca-Jensen said. He means this literally — Flatpay shows up with pen and paper to explain its pricing, and with card terminals for instant demos. “Every sales person has that suitcase.”

This hands-on approach is what might help Flatpay increase its share of a market that is also coveted by legacy providers, large fintech players like PayPal, Stripe, and SumUp, as well as new entrants focusing on specific sectors, such as hospitality. But the real differentiator might be the insight behind it: SMBs want simplicity, and Flatpay leaves them “ready to go.”

While this makes for higher customer acquisition costs than average, especially when combined with 24/7 customer support, Janca-Jensen said that creating demand allows the startup to grow much faster than it would otherwise. In turn, this triple-digit growth makes Flatpay’s emphasis on human interaction much more palatable to investors, even during today’s AI-obsessed investing cycle.

The company isn’t ignoring AI entirely — it uses the technology for real-time features and is experimenting with voice AI agents. Flatpay is also planning to expand further into fintech with a banking suite that would include cards and accounts. For Janca-Jensen, the key is gradual adoption — so that instead of getting overwhelmed, SMB owners can “eat the elephant one bite at a time.”