Integral receives 6.3 million euros

The Berlin-based startup plans to use the fresh capital to revolutionize tax and payroll processes for small and medium-sized enterprises

Berlin, February 12, 2025 - FinTech startup Integral has successfully closed a financing round of 6.3 million euros. The round was led by General Catalyst and Cherry Ventures, with participation from Puzzle Ventures and other entrepreneurs from Europe. With its AI-supported platform, Integral aims to redefine accounting, taxes and payroll for SMEs and thus solve one of the biggest challenges for companies in Germany.

High tax burden and lack of staff slow down German SMEs

The German accounting and tax market is worth 45 billion euros, but SMEs are facing massive challenges: Tax and compliance costs are among the highest in Europe and amount to an average of 1.9% of turnover. At the same time, there is an acute skills shortage - 71% of tax and consulting firms are struggling to find qualified staff.

Our vision is to fundamentally change accounting, tax and payroll for SMEs. Companies should be able to concentrate on their growth - not on complex tax processes.

Lukas Zörner, founder of Integral

As a result, many companies are reliant on outdated processes and manual workflows that are inefficient and expensive. A lack of automation, high costs and a lack of real-time insights make it considerably more difficult for SMEs to grow.

AI meets human expertise

Every entrepreneur is familiar with the bureaucracy and pain associated with accounting and taxes. Founders in particular are facing a real hurdle for the first time that many never expected before. In addition to time and costs, other resources are definitely consumed at this point that could be better used elsewhere, and not just as a start-up.

Integral relies on a combination of artificial intelligence and human expertise to offer companies more efficient accounting and tax solutions. The platform's key functions are: AI-supported automation of tax, accounting and payroll processes, direct integration into existing financial tools and networking with tax advisors via a central collaboration platform.

Investors focus on digital transformation of the tax system

General Catalyst, Cherry Ventures and Puzzle Ventures see Integral as having the potential to solve a deep-rooted bottleneck in the financial sector. "SMEs are the backbone of the European economy, but are often underserved when it comes to digital financial solutions," explains Zeynep Yavuz, Partner at General Catalyst. "The Integral team has the expertise and vision to transform this sector in a sustainable way."

Next steps: product development and team expansion in Berlin

Integral will use the fresh 6.3 million euros to further develop its platform and expand its team in Berlin. Founded in 2024, the company is committed to working closely with its clients to rethink tax and accounting processes from the ground up.