Steve and I ran a previous startup together. The hardest part wasn't the product — it was dealing with our bank. Opening an account took weeks. Getting a card took longer. We thought: we'll build the bank we wish we had.
Europe has 25 million SMBs. Most of them bank with institutions that haven't updated their software since 2005. That's not a market gap — that's a canyon.
We're not trying to be a consumer neobank. N26 and Revolut fight over individuals. We want every freelancer, every startup, every SMB in Europe. Different customer. Different product. Different business.
We acquired Penta in Germany. A French fintech buying a German fintech. Five years ago that would have been unthinkable. Europe's fintech ecosystem is finally acting like one market.
We hit profitability in France before expanding. That was intentional. We didn't want to be another neobank burning cash in five countries at once. Profitable in one, then expand. Old school. It works.