Press Release: plenigo joins PSG-backed Billwerk+
Billwerk+ and plenigo are joining forces to strengthen the group’s presence in publishing and media and to enhance its position as a pan-European leader in subscription management, recurring billing, and payments software.
Frankfurt & Kempten, Germany, July 4th, 2023 – Billwerk+, a leading pan-European provider of subscription management and recurring billing software solutions, today announces that plenigo, a German subscription management and recurring billing software solution provider for publishing and media companies, is joining the group.
Founded in 2013, plenigo has developed into one of the leading SaaS providers for reader-funded business models of modern publishers in the DACH region. The software solution includes subscription sales control, recurring billing, payment processing control, as well as numerous sector-specific functions. Headquartered in Kempten in the Allgäu region, the company has additional offices in Berlin and Hamburg. Currently, plenigo serves almost 70 customers, including some of the most renowned German media houses such as Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, SPIEGEL, Heise Medien, Süddeutsche Zeitung, and Ebner Media Group.
The addition of plenigo’s solution strengthens the group’s presence in the publishing and media sector, which has a long-lasting need for advanced subscription management and recurring billing software solutions. plenigo’s product is highly complementary to Billwerk+’s product offering in the digital and print publishing sectors and offers potential for international growth by leveraging Billwerk+’s existing strong presence across DACH, the Nordics and France.
PSG Equity (“PSG”), a leading growth equity firm partnering with software and technology-enabled services companies to help accelerate their growth and build scale across Europe and the US, will continue to hold a controlling stake in Billwerk+.
Following the transaction, plenigo’s co-founders Thorsten Petter and Maximilian Schweitzer will both become shareholders of the group and continue to actively support the continued development of the platform.
Dr. Ricco Deutscher, CEO and Co-Founder of Billwerk+, said: “Over the past few years, plenigo has driven technological transformation in the German publishing world in an impressive way. We are pleased that by adding plenigo to the group, we can further accelerate this development and support publishers in Germany and Europe in successfully mastering the transformation to digital reader financing. Together within Billwerk+, this creates new options for current plenigo customers and significant growth opportunities for the group as we move towards our objective of creating a pan-European champion for subscription management, recurring billing, and payments software.”
“This combination is the right step to give our customers the development speed and perspective they need in a dynamic market to transform their technology landscape,” said Thorsten Petter, CEO and Co-Founder of plenigo. “In a strong team with a like-minded vision, we want to drive the technological foundation for future-orientated business models of reader financing for publishers, both in Germany and Europe. We look forward to working with the Billwerk+ and PSG teams to achieve this objective.”
Romain Railhac, Managing Director at PSG, said: “The fragmented nature of the European subscription management and recurring billing market continues to provide a significant opportunity to develop a genuinely pan-European leader. By adding plenigo to the Billwerk+ group, we have gained a significant presence in the publishing and media sector in DACH and enhanced the platform to support Billwerk+’s ongoing growth and development into a scaled pan-European player.”
plenigo is the third acquisition made by Billwerk+ since PSG’s initial investment in May 2021 following the combination with Reepay, a leading Danish cloud-based SaaS platform that allows companies to manage their payment processes and subscriptions, in November 2021, and the acquisition of Sofacto, a leading French Salesforce-based subscription management, and recurring billing application provider, in January 2022.
The financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.
About Billwerk+
Billwerk+ provides a cloud-based payment-, billing-, and subscription management platform that simplifies the management and billing of recurring and consumption-based services. In this way, the Billwerk+ platform contributes significantly to the digital value chain for subscription business models. The company combines the core competencies of payment, billing, and subscription experts across Europe. Today, Billwerk+ employs more than 150 people at four locations: Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Montpellier and Gdansk.
About Plenigo
plenigo develops and operates a software-as-a-service platform on which primarily publishers in the newspaper and magazine market can develop and expand reader-funded business models. Initially founded with a focus on digital business models, numerous publishers now run their print business on the plenigo solution. Among its customers, plenigo counts some of the most renowned German media brands such as Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, SPIEGEL, Heise Medien, Süddeutsche Zeitung, and Ebner Media Group. Founded in 2013, plenigo employs around 25 people at its locations in Kempten, Berlin, Hamburg, and Belgrade.
About PSG Equity
PSG Equity (“PSG”) is a growth equity firm that partners with software and technology-enabled services companies to help them navigate transformational growth, capitalize on strategic opportunities and build strong teams. Having backed more than 120 companies and facilitated over 430 add-on acquisitions, PSG brings extensive investment experience, deep expertise in software and technology, and a firm commitment to collaborating with management teams. Founded in 2014, PSG operates out of offices in Boston, Kansas City, London, Paris, Madrid and Tel Aviv.
