Factorial consolidates among the most valuable scale-ups in Europe

Factorial continues to expand its growth capacity. The Barcelona-based platform specializing in general management for companies has raised a Series D investment round of 150 million dollars —129 million euros—. With this new operation, led by the North American fund General Catalyst, the Catalan tech company multiplies its valuation to 2.5 billion dollars —2.2 billion euros—.

This, years after achieving the title of unicorn –startups valued at over 1 billion dollars–; and consolidates itself among the twenty largest on the continent. Atomico, which already led the previous capital injection into Factorial, and Four Rivers also participated in the round.

With this round, General Catalyst enters the Catalan tech company's capital for the first time, after having participated through loans for customer acquisition. Until now, the investment vehicle provided approximately 200 million euros dedicated to acquiring new customers through the Customer Value Fund. In addition to Series D, the company founded by Jordi Romero and Bernat Farrero has negotiated with General Catalyst an expansion of this credit line to exceed 700 million dollars committed, available until 2030.

An AI company

According to the emergent, the new investment round will serve to underpin the development of the new artificial intelligence capabilities offered by its platform, as well as to finance the acquisitions of other companies in its core, mostly European, markets. Unlike other technological start-ups and scale-ups, which need to raise new capital to ensure survival, Factorial claims to have "almost unlimited room" in the bank.

"We haven't needed rounds to continue operating for a long time," Romero explained at a meeting with journalists. In fact, the money raised in the last round, a Series C of 120 million dollars led by the British fund Atomico, has not been completely spent. However, raising new investment is "a good way to use the company's capital".

According to Romero, the transition to artificial intelligence has opened a "special moment" in his sector, as "investors don't quite know who will fall among the winners and who among the losers" of the process. Venture capital, therefore, "is less active", but he trusts Factorial because he no longer sees it solely as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering, but as an artificial intelligence company. "We have found the path from SaaS to agentive support for companies," reflected the founder and CEO, through the two tools Factorial One and Clon.

Funding for purchases

From this privileged position, Factorial plans to expand its purchasing and acquisition strategy. According to Romero, the tension in the venture capital market for technology companies means there are "many good companies" without a clear medium-term path. In this regard, the Barcelona-based company will dedicate part of its capital to "buying companies" to boost its growth with valuable tools, platforms, and talent in its strategic European markets. The emerging company already completed the acquisition of the Galician company YepCode in mid-May, and the top executive already warns that they will be making purchases in the short and medium term.

Regarding results, Romero has assured that accounting profit will come solely thanks to its "recurring model." The business "has a lot of scale," with more than 16,000 corporate clients, and can already "generate a fairly positive cash flow" with its current tools. The founder has not dared to set a date for achieving a positive accounting result, although he has maintained that a balance sheet with profits is "very close." The definitive pace will be determined by acquisitions and the investment these acquisitions require. The only requirement, in fact, is the objective returns: "We want every euro we invest in growth to come back multiplied."