Startup of the Week: ANNA

  • ANNA was founded by Boris Dyakonov, Eduard Panteleev and Slava Akuloa.
  • The startup offer time-saving tools for businesses, including current accounts, invoicing software and more.
  • So far, ANNA has raised  a total £36.5 million in funding over 4 funding rounds.

Website: https://anna.money/

On a mission to make admin for businesses as faffless as possible, our Startup of the Week for this week is ANNA!

ANNA (standing for “absolutely no-nonsense admin”) was founded in 2017 in Cardiff, Wales, and offers business account and tax services for small businesses.

ANNA is comprised of marketing, design and tech experts from all over the world, who share a vision for the future “where ideas, creativity and innovation are encouraged and running a business is fun” The startup says “We created ANNA to provide businesses with time-saving tools, enabling them to spend more time doing what they love.”

ANNA-card

 The fintech offers a range of different services, including business current accounts for small businesses, available in under 10 minutes along with a direct debit featuring ANNA’s fun miaowing cat doodle.

In addition to this, ANNA also offers invoicing software, allowing businesses to ditch their spreadsheets and get paid faster, as well as a receipt scanner app and tax services – including tax reminders and estimations as the business earns.

Co-founders Boris Dyakonov, Eduard Panteleev and Slava Akuloa all have an entrepreneurial past – Dyakonov having co-founded Russia-based Bank24a and KNOPKA (KNOPKA having secured a spot as one of 2015’s “hottest startups” in Wired magazine), while Panteleev has launched three successful, Russia-based banking businesses since 2005 and Akulov founded Octoberry Consulting, which supported such renowned global clients as McKinsey & Company and Accenture.

So far, ANNA have raised a total £36.5 million in funding over the course of 4 funding rounds – their latest announced in May 2020, a Series A which raised £17.5 million. The money was invested by ABH Holdings SA, who have taken a majority stake in the startup. ANNA commented the following on the news “We’ll continue as an independent brand, but we’ll have more resources behind us. That means we’ll be able to introduce new products to help our customers grow their businesses. And yes, the ANNA debit card will continue to miaow.”