One of Germany’s fastest growing tech companies, billwerk (Frankfurt) has merged with Reepay (Copenhagen), creating one of Europe’s most powerful subscription management software companies. Subscription solutions are the basis of world-famous success stories such as Netflix or Spotify. One thing is sure, the business model of car insurer Metromile would not have been possible without this technology. Dr. Ricco Deutscher, CEO and Co-Founder of billwerk, said: “We are excited to combine forces with Reepay as we believe the company’s product suite can take our existing portfolio to the next level.”
“Everything-as-a-service”: From newspaper subscriptions to production equipment
The joint venture is now one of the heavyweights in the extremely fast-growing subscriber management market. “Everything-as-a-service” includes subscription models for all kinds of services, from dance schools to streaming services to software usage. For companies, subscription models are now indispensable thanks to recurring revenues, but they require some adjustments in controlling and accounting. Pierre Schramm, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at billwerk, sees considerable growth potential for the cloud-based SaaS platform: “The Subscription Economy wave is sweeping over all industries and regions. The question is not whether the wave will come – but when.” Experts assume that in the future, more and more machines, special tools or even entire production lines will no longer be purchased from the manufacturer but used by subscription.
Pierre Schramm, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at billwerk
billwerk: Voted one of the best by Deloitte
Just a few weeks ago, billwerk was ranked 29th in the “Deloitte Technology Fast 50 2021”, with a fantastic growth rate of 320.68 percent. With this award, Deloitte honors the 50 growth champions of the tech industry. The decisive factor for the ranking is the percentage growth in sales over the past four fiscal years. According to Deloitte, billwerk’s success is due to the subscription management platform it developed itself. This solution is excellently aligned with the needs and regulatory requirements of European subscription service providers in the midmarket and enterprise segment. The fact that customers can sign up for a subscription to a streaming service, an online language course or a leased car with just a few clicks was not a given even a few short years ago.
billwerk already supports several hundred customers in Germany, the Nordics, Switzerland, France and increasingly in Benelux. Reepay brings another 1,400 customers to the table. Like Reepay, billwerk was founded 6 years ago and the joint venture is on its way to becoming the market leader for subscription solutions in Europe.
Subscription services simplify growth radically
Companies have had to make considerable effort to integrate the necessary new billing models into their accounting and to meet all regulatory requirements. Changes in controlling and other revenue processes were mandatory. Contract management also had to be reorganized because revenue forecasts can be derived from contract terms. Thanks to billwerk’s model, the implementation of subscription models has now been simplified for companies; it has become just as easy as for customers who want to use a company’s or service provider’s subscription. As of only last month, the billwerk solution can also be integrated with SAP Finance as well as Microsoft Dynamics 365.
In the USA, the subscription market is significantly further developed than in the rest of the world: According to an analysis by billwerk, this industry sector has a head start of around eight to ten years over Germany. But the subscription business model is also on the rise in the DACH region. The Frankfurt-based company’s report shows that the volume of sales in this sector has increased almost 60-fold since 2015. Headquartered in Copenhagen, Reepay brings a strong presence in Northern Europe to the new venture, particularly in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The joint venture’s solutions are all designed to integrate with a wide range of payment services and ERP / CRM systems, as well as complying with European regulations.
The majority stake in the joint venture will be held by PSG, an equity investment company. billwerk has formulated high requirements for itself, with the aims of “radically automating” subscription management, recurring billing and recurring payment. CEO Ricco Deutscher’s approach seems to be right for more than just customers: The employer evaluation portal Glassdoor boasts a straight “5” from all employee evaluations, the highest mark possible.
For more information, visit the website: billwerk.io
