Skello raises €200M from Bridgepoint while increasing founders' stake

Paris-based HR startup Skello has raised €200M in a round led by investment firm Bridgepoint. The stake held by the company's founders and managers grew rather than being diluted, as usually happens in large rounds. EU-Startups reported the news.

What Skello will spend the €200M on

The company plans to use the capital to expand across Europe by acquiring other companies. In effect, this is a market consolidation strategy through M&A, not just organic growth. The source describes Skello as a profitable business, which sets the round apart from the typical story of a loss-making startup raising money to cover running costs.

• Round size: €200M
• Lead investor: Bridgepoint
• Skello is based in Paris and works in HR technology
• The company is already profitable
• The funds will go toward acquiring competitors and partners across Europe

Why a rising founder stake is rare

Tech Funding News separately points to an unusual detail of the deal: normally, each new large funding round dilutes the stake of the founders and top management, because new investors receive shares in exchange for capital. At Skello the opposite happened: founders and managers together now own a larger share of the company than before the round. The sources do not disclose the exact mechanism of the deal, but the outcome itself points to a strong negotiating position for the Skello team, backed by the business's proven profitability.

What this means

The Skello round shows how profitability and a strong negotiating position let a startup raise large capital on terms that favor the founders, not just the new investors, while also funding an aggressive strategy of consolidating the market through acquisitions across Europe.