Image © Helvo
Following an open beta phase with around 50 companies, Swiss fintech Helvo is now available to all SMEs in Switzerland. Helvo brings together the financial tools they use to run their business in a single environment anchored by a Swiss business account with CHF and EUR IBANs, thereby consolidating account management, payments, invoicing, accounting, payroll management and financial analytics. Subject to approval, accounts can be opened within 48 to 72 hours. To mark the public launch, the first month of use is being offered free of charge to all new customers.
Swiss fintech Helvo has rolled out its financial management platform for SMEs across Switzerland, following a limited beta phase that began in June.
The launch comes as Switzerland has lost ground in digital banking. While Switzerland was in the top 5 for banking in 2018, according to a Deloitte study, the latest digital banking maturity study shows it ranked 27th in 2024. For SMEs, the challenge is well known: financial information is often scattered across multiple banking, accounting and administrative systems, creating manual work and limiting visibility. Helvo was designed to connect these different elements.
Helvo offers a Swiss business account with CHF and EUR IBANs that can be opened within 48 to 72 hours, subject to approval. Once the account is open, companies can manage their day-to-day finances on a single, interconnected platform that brings together financial activities, commercial records and supporting documents, while securely linking the underlying information behind each transaction.
Helvo is aimed both at founders setting up their finances from day one and at existing SMEs looking to simplify a fragmented financial environment. For entrepreneurs starting a new company in Switzerland, Helvo also offers capital deposit accounts, providing a straightforward journey from company formation to the opening of an active business account.
For established SMEs, Helvo will connect to existing bank accounts via Switzerland’s bLink open banking infrastructure, enabling businesses to benefit from connected financial flows, intelligent automation and better visibility without replacing their existing banking relationships.
Bringing financial information together in one place reduces the manual work required to keep a company’s finances up to date. Tasks such as bookkeeping reconciliations, invoice processing and accounting can be increasingly automated, while accountants, fiduciaries and other professional partners can work from the same reliable financial data.
As this financial overview becomes more complete, Helvo can deliver better insights, greater automation and more informed decision-making over time, while companies retain control over how financial operations are implemented and approved.
“Most small businesses are not short of financial data. The problem is that it is spread across different places and no one has the time to reconcile it,” explains Julien Barbotin-Larrieu, CEO of Helvo.
“For many SMEs, having a dedicated CFO or finance team is simply not realistic. By linking transactions, invoices and accounting data in real time, Helvo gives entrepreneurs a reliable view of their cash flow, financial autonomy and financial performance. It helps them make more informed decisions on spending, hiring and investment, without having to manually rebuild the big picture every time.”
Helvo offers subscriptions starting at CHF 39 per month, with an included usage volume that varies depending on the package chosen. As the company grows, additional usage volumes can be added for services such as accounting, cards, transactions and invoices. As part of the public launch, all new customers will receive one free month.
Helvo is not a bank. Accounts are provided through Hypothekarbank Lenzburg AG, a Swiss bank supervised by FINMA. Customer funds are held with this bank, and deposits are protected up to CHF 100,000 under the Swiss deposit insurance scheme, esisuisse.
Helvo combines this regulated Swiss banking infrastructure with technology designed to meet the specific financial and administrative needs of Swiss SMEs.
This structure also creates the potential to improve access to SME financing. By consolidating real-time accounting and transaction data from companies using the platform, Helvo aims to work with licensed credit partners to enable faster assessment of financing applications from small SMEs, while credit decisions and lending remain the responsibility of those partners.
“Swiss companies already have access to excellent banks, accountants, fiduciaries and financial tools. The opportunity lies in improving coordination between these different aspects of running a business,” explains Barbotin-Larrieu. “If we can reduce the administrative burden and remove more of the obstacles SMEs face every day, we give entrepreneurs more time to focus on their customers, invest and grow — which ultimately benefits the Swiss economy as a whole.”
“Financing is the next logical step. The financial information needed to assess the health of a Swiss company should not have to be rebuilt from scratch every time funding is required. Our role is to make that information clearer and more accessible to licensed credit partners, so decisions can potentially be made faster.”
Helvo aims to bring 500 Swiss companies onto its platform by the end of 2026, as it expands its financial operating platform across the Swiss SME market.
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Helvo is developing the financial operating system for Swiss SMEs. It brings together business accounts, payments, cards, invoicing, payroll management, accounting and financial analytics in one place, automating administrative tasks and giving entrepreneurs a real-time view of their company’s finances. Accounts are provided by regulated mortgage bank Hypothekarbank Lenzburg, while Helvo delivers the technology and user experience.
Founded in 2024 and based at Millennium in Crissier, Switzerland, Helvo employs 26 people in Switzerland and Finland, bringing together expertise in banking, technology, regulatory compliance and entrepreneurship.
For more information: www.helvo.com
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