Factorial became a unicorn exactly one year ago, that is, a startup valued at over 1 billion euros. It reached this valuation after closing a Series C round of 125 million euros, joining a select club to which other emerging companies born in Barcelona such as Glovo, Wallbox, and Travelperk already belonged. Another of its merits is that it is considered one of the fastest-growing software development companies in Europe, having tripled its turnover each year since its platform for managing human resources for SMEs began to take off in late 2019.
Today, the company based in Poblenou has a workforce of over a thousand employees, a portfolio of nearly 9,000 clients, and a presence in nine countries. In this context of hypergrowth, Factorial has just closed its first corporate operation by acquiring the startup Fuell, headquartered in Madrid with offices in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Miami. It is also a successful company that was born in the midst of the pandemic and will allow Factorial to expand its activity into business expense management tools, thus rounding out the all-in-one service package they offer to SMEs.
Founded by Eduardo Ortiz de Lanzagorta and Edgar Álvarez, Fuell has achieved annual growth of up to 250% thanks to the support of the Y Combinator accelerator and investors such as Fin Capital, FJ Labs, and K Fund, an investor who is also a partner of Factorial. Fuell has developed technology for expense management that simplifies procedures and saves costs, as it digitizes receipts and automates reports or expense notes that employees must submit. In addition, it markets a solution for budget management and simplifies procedures related to the recovery of VAT from invoices and representation expenses. Another of its products is corporate credit cards.
"Through this acquisition, we are much closer to our goal of making Factorial the all-in-one platform for business management, not only by working on our product with a spectacular internal team but also by investing in unique solutions that have already proven their viability, demonstrating the existing demand and their usefulness," explains Jordi Romero, CEO and co-founder of Factorial, along with Bernat Farrero and Pau Ramon.
According to Factorial, all of Fuell's assets will be acquired, including technological property, clients, and the team. The founders of the startup will continue to serve as advisors after the operation. "We are very excited to see Fuell's journey continue, joining forces with the impressive Factorial team, as it reaches new scenarios, crossing borders," highlighted Eduardo Ortiz de Lanzagorta, CEO and co-founder of Fuell. "Our vision," he added, "has always been to revolutionize expense management in companies. With Factorial's experience and resources, this goal will be achieved much faster."
According to the Barcelona-based unicorn, this operation is "a milestone" that will contribute to achieving the goal of transforming human resources management for small and medium-sized companies, that is, all tasks related to people, from payroll management to expenses, including time control, shift management, absences, and recruitment processes. This is a gigantic field, as there are millions of SMEs worldwide that have not yet digitized. Factorial's challenge is to acquire 500,000 new users of its software globally in 2024. In addition to Spain, Factorial operates in France, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Mexico, Brazil, and the United States. Half of its thousand workers are at its corporate headquarters in the 22@ district and the rest in offices in Miami, Sao Paulo, and Mexico City.
Depending on the chosen package, customers using Factorial's software as a service (SaaS) pay between 5 and 10 euros per employee.
The financing round closed a year ago was led by Atomico and included the participation of GIC and all previous investors of the company, including Tiger Global, CRV, K-Fund, and Creandum.