Agile Accounting Tech Rocket Lemon Tree Targets New Scale with Backing from Private Equity Owner
Vaaka Partners acquires a majority stake in Lemon Tree, which focuses on accounting services and proprietary software solutions for entrepreneurs.
Accounting firm Lemon Tree has succeeded where many industry players have stumbled. It provides services to small companies and self-employed individuals personally and still profitably. The company has quadrupled its revenue in five years to almost 5 million euros.
The cornerstones for Lemon Tree’s success are its own accounting software, specially built for the needs of small businesses, combined with the peace of mind provided by a personal accountant.
Long-term leaders of Lemon Tree, Valtteri Virtanen and Jon Grönholm will continue in complementary roles in the company. In the co-CEO model, Grönholm is responsible for the company’s growth and Virtanen for the operations and software development.
”As a full-service accounting firm, we are able to offer our clients more personalized and comprehensive service than lighter invoicing platforms”, says Virtanen. ”At the same time our service is smoother and more cost-efficient than the services of traditional larger accounting firms, which often focus on larger clients.”
Lemon Tree’s clients are exceptionally happy with the company’s services: on a scale from 0 to 10, they rate it an average of 9.3. Also, personnel satisfaction is on an outstanding level at Lemon Tree.
“We believe that a satisfied accountant means a satisfied client. Our goal is to make entrepreneurs’ lives as easy as possible, and the numbers show that we’ve been successful”, says Grönholm.
With Vaaka Partners support, Lemon Tree is seeking growth both organically and through acquisitions.
“In addition to capital, Vaaka Partners will bring us strong expertise in building growth and strategic know-how”, Grönholm says.
Although there have been a lot of M&A activity in the accounting services market in recent years, the company sees plenty of attractive acquisition targets, especially among accounting firms serving small businesses. It believes that software development also continues to progress strongly.
“Lemon Tree’s modern business model, which combines purpose-built technology and a human-centered approach, frees up small business owners’ time and attention to focus on developing their core business”, says Tuomas Siponen, Partner at Vaaka.
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Additional information:
Jon Grönholm
CEO
Tilitoimisto Lemon Tree
jon@lemontree.fi
Tel. +358 40 052 9971
Tuomas Siponen
Partner
Vaaka Partners
tuomas.siponen@vaakapartners.fi
Tel. +358 50 571 3767
