A London-based startup that has migrated most of its operations to Ireland ahead of a possible Brexit has raised €54m to help funds its relocation.
Soldo, which provides a software platform for corporate expenses management, received an e-money licence from the Central Bank of Ireland in March that enables it to issue payments across the EU through passporting rights.
The company began serving customers from Ireland last month after migrating its European customers' accounts from London. It now expects to ramp up its Irish operations as a result of the new funding. This includes expanding its headcount to 30 including key positions such as the heads of IT and accounting.
“We are looking at significant investment in organisational growth,” co-founder and chief executive Carlo Gualandri told The Irish Times.
“All the growth we planned in Europe, instead of being served as originally planned by the UK will now be served by Ireland. By the end of the year, more than 50% of our business will be led from Dublin and that will increase as we expand,” he added.
The Series B funding was led by two venture capital firms Battery Ventures and Dawn Capital and brings Soldo's total funding to €74m.
In addition to the Ireland relocation, the extra capital will be used to grow market share acorss Europe and to double its overall workforce to 100 people this year and then to double it again to 200 by 2020.
The company currently has around 60,000 customers, after acheiving growth of 500% in 2018.
Brexit has been cited as the reason for the move to Ireland in a move that may yet be replicated by other UK fintechs. Back in March, at the time of the e-money licence award, Gualandri bemoaned the problems caused by the UK's impending divorce from the EU stating "it’s crazy to think we’ve been forced to work for a year and a half on a hugely complex project, mostly duplicating something that we had already, to prepare our business for something that may or may not happen".
By shifting its holding company to Ireland, Soldo had "absolutely zero problems...because our backers see it as a good jurisidiction to be in" said Gualandri.