"Every country was like solving a new puzzle," laughs Maria Schmidt, founder and CEO of Payroll.io, as she pulls up a map showing their European expansion. "Each market had its own regulations, tax systems, and cultural nuances. We had product-market fit in Germany, but scaling across Europe required a different kind of fuel – and a different kind of financial partner."

The complexity challenge

In early 2024, Payroll.io was riding high on their success in the German market. Their AI-powered payroll automation platform was processing over €50 million in monthly payroll for 3,000 German SMEs. But European expansion presented a chicken-and-egg problem: they needed local teams to build country-specific features, but also needed those features to attract local customers.

"Traditional investors wanted us to prove traction in new markets before funding our expansion," Maria explains from their Berlin headquarters. "But we needed capital to build the local infrastructure first. It was a classic catch-22."

Finding the right partner

The turning point came during a fintech conference in Berlin, where Maria met Lisa Weber, Finns' Head of Fintech Partnerships. "Lisa immediately grasped our technical challenges," Maria recalls. "Instead of asking about our burn rate, she wanted to understand our regulatory mapping system and compliance architecture. That's when I knew we'd found a partner who spoke our language."

What followed was unlike any financing discussion they'd had before. Finns' team included former fintech operators who had scaled across European markets. They understood the intricate dance of regulatory compliance, technical infrastructure, and market expansion.

Beyond traditional financing

Within four weeks, Payroll.io secured €8 million in growth financing through Finns' fintech scaling program. But the real value came from what happened next.

"Finns connected us with their regulatory advisory network," explains Thomas Meyer, Payroll.io's CTO. "We got access to local compliance experts in each market, which cut our research and implementation time by months. They even introduced us to their other portfolio companies who had successfully navigated similar challenges."

The results spoke volumes:

• Expanded from 2 to 12 European markets in 18 months

• Grew monthly processed payroll to €300 million

• Increased customer base to 15,000 companies

• Built fully compliant operations in each market

• Achieved ISO 27001 certification across all operations

Navigating market-specific challenges

Not every market entry went smoothly. When launching in France, they encountered unexpected complexities in their social security calculation algorithms. "That could have been a three-month setback," Maria remembers. "But Finns' local network connected us with a former government advisor who helped us rectify the issue in weeks."

The technology advantage

One of their biggest wins came from an unexpected source. "Finns' technical due diligence actually helped us improve our architecture," Thomas shares. "Their team spotted potential scaling issues in our multi-tenant database design. That insight helped us rebuild our infrastructure to handle 10x growth before we actually needed it."

Cultural transformation

The impact wasn't just technical. "Finns helped us build a truly European company culture," says Sarah Chen, Head of People at Payroll.io. "Their team had experience building remote-first organizations across multiple countries. Their guidance helped us create an inclusive culture that celebrated our diversity while maintaining operational efficiency."

Looking ahead

Today, Payroll.io processes over €4 billion in annual payroll across Europe. They've become the go-to solution for companies looking to scale their operations across multiple European markets.

"What makes Finns different is their long-term perspective," Maria reflects. "They understood that building compliant fintech infrastructure across Europe isn't a sprint – it's a marathon. They gave us the capital we needed, but more importantly, they gave us the playbook for sustainable growth."

For other fintech founders eyeing European expansion, Maria offers this advice: "Look for partners who understand the complexity of what you're building. With Finns, we found a partner who could see beyond the numbers to understand the true challenge – and opportunity – of building European fintech infrastructure."

As our interview concludes, Maria shows me their real-time processing dashboard, tracking payroll calculations across dozens of tax systems and regulatory frameworks. "This is what smart growth capital builds," she says proudly. "Not just a bigger company, but a better financial system for Europe."