If you’ve ever spoken with a fintech entrepreneur, chances are they’ve mentioned ledger issues. A ledger, the backbone of financial asset tracking, records money movements and acts as a single source of truth. But managing ledgers can become a nightmare when companies juggle multiple bank accounts, payment processors, and scattered funds. Many businesses end up dedicating engineering resources to build their own ledgers just to keep things running smoothly.
French startup Formance recognized this common problem and created an open-source, programmable financial ledger to help companies track their assets across accounts. What began as a solution to a specific pain point is now evolving into a comprehensive financial infrastructure platform.
“In 2024, and even before, we were mainly focused on the ledger. Then we started preparing to move from a single ledger product to the Formance platform with other modules — the reconciliation part, for example, connectors to payment services, etc.,” said co-founder and CTO Clément Salaün in an interview with TechCrunch.
Formance’s Product Suite
Formance now offers five core products designed to simplify financial operations:
- Ledger – Tracks financial assets across accounts.
- Connectivity Platform – Integrates financial providers using a single API.
- Payment Orchestration – Facilitates money movement across wallets and payment providers.
- Reconciliation – Matches transactions to ensure accuracy.
- Mass Payouts – A new product in development for marketplaces and companies needing to issue bulk payments.
While developers can already manage payouts programmatically using platforms like Stripe, Adyen, or Mangopay, Formance aims to go further by creating middleware that works seamlessly across multiple providers.
Major Funding Round
The company recently secured a $21 million Series A round, co-led by PayPal Ventures and Portage. Existing investors, including Y Combinator, Hoxton Ventures, and Axeleo, also participated in the round.
The Platform Play
Formance is moving towards a modular platform approach, similar to how AWS operates in the cloud hosting space. Customers can use a single service, but the platform becomes more efficient and cost-effective when multiple modules are integrated.
“We’ll be releasing a number of other modules, particularly related to financial operations,” Salaün said. “We’re going to improve tools for accounting exports, enhance connectivity, and even work on banking at a lower level. The goal is to modularize the entire stack.”
This strategy also helps clients minimize integration costs. “If you get three SaaS products, you might spend $150,000 on the tools and another $150,000 on linking them together,” Salaün explained. A modular platform like Formance can solve these challenges under one roof.
Unlike larger players like Stripe, Formance remains independent — it doesn’t process payments or hold clients’ funds. Instead, it focuses on providing the infrastructure fintech companies need to thrive.
Growing Customer Base
Formance currently has around 20 customers, including major names like Booksy, Doctolib, Liberis, and Shares. Two U.S.-based customers alone account for 40% of the startup’s revenue.
Next Steps
With fresh funding, Formance plans to expand its operations. The company is opening a New York office and building a go-to-market team there. It also intends to scale its engineering and product teams, aiming to grow its headcount from 20 to 50 employees by the end of 2025.
As Formance continues to evolve, it’s clear the company is positioning itself as a key player in the world of financial infrastructure — offering flexibility, independence, and innovative solutions to meet the needs of modern fintech businesses.
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