Integral Raises €12 Million to Enhance Digital Tax, Accounting, and Payroll Solutions for SMEs
Berlin-based fintech Integral has secured €12 million in total funding and acquired cleverlohn, a digital payroll provider, marking an aggressive expansion strategy less than a year after its launch. The company announced new backing from General Catalyst, Cherry Ventures and Puzzle Ventures in November 2025, following its €6.3 million raise in February 2025.
Founded in 2024 by Lukas Zörner and Anil Can Baykal, Integral combines AI-driven technology with human expertise to modernize accounting, taxation and payroll services for European SMEs, starting with Germany. The company will use the capital to enhance its product, deepen customer collaboration, and expand its team in Germany.
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Zörner brings substantial experience from Germany’s business banking sector. He was Chief Product Officer and Managing Director at Penta before the company’s acquisition by Qonto in 2022. Following the acquisition, he served as VP Germany at Qonto, leading the German market and sitting on the global executive committee. His technical co-founder Baykal provides engineering expertise in building financial platforms.
Integral targets what it describes as a failing German market. According to the company’s February 2025 announcement, Germany’s €45 billion accounting and taxation market presents significant challenges for SMEs. German SMEs face tax compliance costs averaging approximately 1.9% of their turnover, while 71% of advisory firms report staffing issues.
Traditional self-service accounting software has often failed to simplify operations for business owners. These tools frequently shift the burden from advisors to entrepreneurs, forcing them to spend significant time on administrative tasks rather than growing their businesses. Integral’s approach differs by offering fully managed services combining automation with professional oversight.
Platform Features and Service Model
The Integral platform provides three core capabilities: a central collaboration interface connecting SMEs with partner tax advisors, direct integration with existing financial tools, and AI features designed to assist both business owners and their advisors. The system automates data entry, reconciliation, and document classification while maintaining human oversight for complex decisions.
The cleverlohn acquisition expands these capabilities into payroll and HR services. Founded by Darleen Warda and Ole Wohltmann, cleverlohn provides tech-enabled solutions designed for Germany’s complex labor and tax regulations. The company will continue operating as a standalone brand while gaining access to Integral’s AI infrastructure.
“The joint potential of Integral and cleverlohn is immense,” said Warda, co-founder and managing director of cleverlohn.
“By leveraging AI and developing the product further to empower our team, we can focus even more on and invest in delivering exceptional service. We’ll be able to provide even greater support to SMEs, helping them navigate payroll and HR operations with ease and confidence.”
The combined platform offers accounting, taxation, and payroll under one system, addressing a common pain point for SMEs that typically must coordinate between multiple service providers for these interconnected functions.
Investor Backing and Strategic Vision
The funding round drew participation from three established venture capital firms. General Catalyst, founded in 2000, manages investments in over 800 companies including Airbnb and Stripe. The firm has been expanding its European presence and acquired German VC La Famiglia in 2024.
Zeynep Yavuz, a partner at General Catalyst, framed the investment as supporting an underserved segment. “SMEs are the backbone of Europe’s economy and society, yet they remain underserved in terms of digital solutions for accounting and taxation,” she said. “Lukas and Anil have a compelling vision and deep experience building financial products for this customer segment.”
Cherry Ventures raised $500 million for its fifth fund in 2024, positioning itself as a supporter of European founders tackling entrenched industry challenges. Filip Dames, founding partner at Cherry Ventures, described Integral as addressing a fundamental pain point across Europe. “At Cherry, we back founders with the ambition to fundamentally reshape industries,” Dames said. “The Integral team’s bold vision to revolutionize tax and accountancy services for SMEs across Europe tackles a deeply entrenched pain point. Lukas, Anil, and their team are building something transformative, and we’re thrilled to be their partners on this journey.”
Puzzle Ventures joined as the third institutional investor, alongside individual entrepreneurs from across Europe who bring operational expertise and networks.
“This acquisition is a huge step forward in our mission to leverage AI to redefine accounting, payroll, and taxes for SMEs,” said Zörner, co-founder and CEO of Integral. “cleverlohn’s deep expertise in payroll and HR perfectly complements our offering. I am incredibly excited to work together with the team and focus on further expanding the offering for our customers and partners.”
Growing Sector Investment
Integral’s funding arrives amid heightened investor interest in European startups modernizing back-office financial operations. In 2025, several European companies in the accounting, payroll, and tax sectors secured funding. Germany has been particularly active: Ordio raised €12 million to advance payroll automation for deskless industries, AnyTax secured €1 million to modernize tax infrastructure, and Steuerboard closed a €725,000 round to automate workflows for tax advisory firms.
Adjacent HR and benefits solutions also attracted investment, including Penzilla in Munich, which raised €3.2 million to simplify company pension schemes, and Spain’s Kabilio, which secured €4 million to expand its AI-based accounting and tax tools. Combined, these 2025 announcements represent roughly €20.9 million of capital flowing into the sector.
This investment wave suggests venture capitalists see substantial opportunity in applying technology to longstanding inefficiencies in professional services. While consumer fintech attracted enormous attention in previous years, investors appear increasingly focused on business-to-business solutions that promise to modernize essential operational functions.
Market Challenges and Opportunities
Germany’s SMEs face mounting challenges from rising compliance costs, outdated technology, and a critical shortage of skilled professionals. The staffing crisis has reached severe levels, creating bottlenecks that lead to manual errors and missed deadlines for businesses navigating complex regulations.
Integral’s AI-driven platform automates manual tasks and aims to ensure more accurate, efficient bookkeeping. With the addition of cleverlohn’s payroll expertise, the company says SMEs will gain access to real-time insights and customer service to manage their financial processes more effectively.
The regulatory environment continues to evolve, adding layers of complexity. Tax compliance requirements multiply regularly, while businesses struggle to find qualified professionals to handle these obligations. This creates both opportunity and urgency for technology-enabled solutions that can absorb complexity and automate compliance processes.
However, the stakes remain high. Errors in accounting, tax filing, or payroll can result in penalties, legal liability, and damaged business relationships. Any platform attempting to address these challenges must demonstrate consistent accuracy while processing diverse client situations at growing volume.
Market Strategy and Expansion Plans
Integral plans to continue building its product in close collaboration with customers while assembling an experienced, dedicated team in Berlin. The emphasis on customer collaboration reflects a product development philosophy focused on solving real problems rather than building features in isolation.
The company initially targets German SMEs in the professional services sector, a segment facing particularly acute accounting and compliance challenges. Professional services firms often have complex billing arrangements, multiple revenue streams, and sophisticated expense structures that make financial operations especially burdensome.
While currently focused on Germany, Integral has articulated broader European ambitions. The company describes itself as working to build Europe’s leading AI-first advisory firm in accounting, tax, and payroll. Expanding beyond Germany will require adapting to different regulatory frameworks, tax codes, and business practices in each market.
Competitive Landscape and Technology
The competitive landscape includes both pure software plays and managed service providers. Some competitors focus narrowly on accounting automation, while others specialize in payroll or tax compliance. Integral’s strategy of building an integrated platform covering all three areas represents a bet that SMEs prefer working with a single provider for interconnected financial functions.
The platform’s AI capabilities handle repetitive processes including data entry, transaction reconciliation, and document classification. With the cleverlohn integration, these capabilities extend to payroll calculations, HR-related computations, and regulatory reporting, while maintaining human oversight where needed.
The system provides real-time visibility into accounting, tax, and payroll data, supported by customer service teams available to address questions. For accounting firms and tax advisors partnering with Integral, the platform offers tools to manage multiple client relationships more efficiently.
By automating routine tasks and standardizing workflows, the platform enables professional advisors to serve more clients while focusing their expertise on complex situations that require professional judgment. This efficiency gain becomes critical given the staffing shortages affecting the industry.
Integration and Future Trajectory
The successful integration of cleverlohn will test Integral’s operational capabilities. The company must preserve the strengths that made cleverlohn attractive while gaining the efficiency benefits of shared AI infrastructure. cleverlohn will continue to operate as a standalone company and brand, allowing it to maintain existing client relationships.
The broader European market for business financial services remains fragmented, with different regulatory regimes and established local players in each country. Integral’s ability to expand beyond Germany while adapting its platform and service model to local requirements will test both its technology and organizational capabilities.
Traditional accounting software companies are also investing in automation and AI capabilities, while established advisory firms explore technology partnerships. Competition is intensifying as other well-funded startups pursue similar opportunities. The market will likely see consolidation as successful platforms achieve scale and smaller players struggle to match their capabilities.
The hybrid model combining AI automation with human expertise positions Integral between pure software solutions and traditional advisory relationships. This approach aims to deliver efficiency without sacrificing the judgment that complex financial situations require.
For now, Integral has secured the resources and strategic assets to pursue its vision of transforming how European SMEs handle accounting, taxation, and payroll. The company’s early customers include AI platform Langdock, whose CEO Lennard Schmidt is also an investor, providing initial market validation.
The next phase will reveal whether Integral can translate its vision into operational reality at the scale required to build a lasting business in this demanding sector. With €12 million in total funding and an expanded service offering through the cleverlohn acquisition, the company enters this phase with substantial backing and broadened capabilities.
