Estonian start-up Xolo offers banking services with Wirecard Bank

Written by Ruby Hinchliffe
2nd March 2020

Xolo, the Estonia-founded freelance business manager, has teamed up with Wirecard’s fully licensed German bank to launch its new banking offering for one-person micro-businesses.

Designed to be a “one-stop-shop” which brings together company creation, business banking, web software and full accounting services, Xolo can now add a bank account to its armoury. It says payment cards are shipped to its business customers within 48 hours of opening account.

The start-up now has more than 30,000 customers across its two-part platform, which offers entrepreneurs two different products.

Xolo’s aim is to create “a new virtual nation for freelancers and solopreneurs”

They can sign up to either Xolo Go which charges 5% of outgoing payments for business banking, accounting – including tax compliance and filing, sales invoices and expense management, or Xolo Leap which is €79 a month for all of Xolo Go’s features plus a physical Mastercard and access to its mobile app – which rolled out last year.

The main difference between the two plans is that Xolo Go is designed for virtual European companies, whereas Xolo Leap is designed for fully-owned, Estonian-registered companies. The start-up says a third of its customers are Estonian e-residents.

For European entrepreneurs setting up shop in Estonia, the addition of banking services “removes the last obstacle for a quick and seamless launch of an EU company through Estonia’s unique e-Residency program”, says Xolo’s CEO Allan Martinson.

“Previously, the customers either needed to travel to visit the bank or opted for using e-money providers such as TransferWise. Now, they can get a fully-licensed bank account online,” says Martinson.

The start-up ultimately wants to create “a new virtual nation for freelancers and solopreneurs”. The aim is backed by an investment round last July of $6.8 million in Series A funding backed by Estonia’s Karma Ventures, Finland’s Vendep Capital and France’s Leap Ventures.