Rabo Frontier Ventures is to take a stake in Ageras through the sale of its online bookkeeping app Tellow to the fast-growing SME marketplace.
Tellow, an accounting tool for freelancers, started as an internal innovation project at Rabobank and was spun-out from the bank in 2018.
The acquisition by Investcorp-owned Ageras comes as the firm seeks to expand internationally and gow its Open Banking-inspired marketplace for SMEs.
RFV will use its current equity stake in Tellow plus an additional investment to acquire a minority position and a board seat in Ageras group.
Ageras currently connects SMEs and microbusinesses in Scandinavia, Western Europe and the US with professional service providers such as accountants and bookkeepers. The firm has been actively expanding its partner ecosystem since 2017, acquiring Danish accounting software firm Billy and developing Meneto, a fully automated bookkeeping tool for micro companies.
Ageras has ambitions to offer business clients a suite of bolt-on financial services - such as integrated banking, credit cards, business accounts, and financing - and sees Rabobank as a key strategic partner.
Investocrp's Gilbert Kamieniecky , says: “We have a clear ambition of being the technical front-runners in our market, which can help the accounting and financial services sectors by automating time-consuming and manual tasks. Rabobank is a key player in this field which, due to their insights and know-how, connects directly to the fintech part of our business model."