Cobee is a Spanish fintech company that transformed employee benefits management, simplifying access to flexible compensation and corporate benefits through a single platform. Its solution allows companies and employees to manage benefits in a simpler, more efficient and digital way.
| Startup | Cobee |
| Sector | Fintech · Employee benefits · B2B SaaS |
| Founded | 2018 · Spain |
| Stage | Series A · transition to internal finance team |
| TSCFO services | External CFO · Accounting · ENISA/Tax Lease |
| Main challenge | Building the finance function from the earliest days through scale |
| Solution | Financial model · KPIs · accounting · fundraising · public funding · CFO transition |
| Key result | €14M Series A + €700K ENISA + transition to internal CFO |
— 01 · STARTING POINT
Before Cobee officially existed
The relationship between Cobee and The Startup CFO began even before the company was officially incorporated. In the summer of 2018, Borja Aranguren started working on the idea of creating a startup focused on employee benefits, and Jaime Medina supported him from the start with the first financial analyses.
During that early stage, the work focused on modeling different ideas around meal benefits, the relationship with restaurants and the user experience. Those initial iterations laid the financial foundation for what would later become Cobee.
By the end of 2018, the company started to take shape and The Startup CFO joined as financial partner from day one, helping with accounting, financial operations, invoicing and business model design.
— 02 · WHAT WE DID
Building a finance function from scratch
At The Startup CFO, we supported Cobee through its evolution from the initial idea to the final model based on cards and flexible benefits.
The financial work was key to understanding which product had the greatest potential, how it should be monetized and which metrics needed to be tracked. We defined KPIs for acquisition, retention, recurrence and monetization, building an analytical foundation that supported the company through its early growth stages.
We also managed accounting, taxes and labor from the beginning, while participating in audits, due diligence processes, funding rounds and training the internal finance team as Cobee scaled.
Financial model and KPIs
Development of the initial financial model, scenario analysis and definition of acquisition, retention, recurrence and monetization KPIs.
Accounting and operations
Management of accounting, taxes, labor, invoicing, audits and financial processes from the company’s early years.
Fundraising and due diligence
Financial support in funding rounds, preparation of materials, audits and due diligence processes across different growth stages.
— 03 · FUNDING
From the first rounds to Series A
In July 2019, The Startup CFO supported Cobee in its seed round, with funds such as Sabadell VC, Encomenda Smart Capital, Abac Nest and Lanai Partners.
In February 2020, the company closed a €2.1M pre-Series A round with international funds, allowing it to accelerate operational growth and continue developing its value proposition.
In the summer of 2021, Cobee closed a €14M Series A, a milestone that marked a new stage of expansion. In parallel, The Startup CFO helped secure €700K in ENISA funding, structured Tax Lease financing between 2021 and 2023 and prepared incentives for more than 50 employees in the technical team.
— 04 · RESULTS
A collaboration through financial graduation
Series A
€14M round to support expansion and consolidation
Public funding
€700K ENISA, Tax Lease and incentives for the technical team
Internal CFO
Orderly transition toward an internalized finance function
The Cobee case reflects one of the most complete forms of financial support: being there from the first analyses, building the model, supporting funding rounds, managing public funding and preparing the transition to an internal team.
When Cobee reached the right size, especially given its complexity as a fintech, internalizing the CFO role became the natural next step. For The Startup CFO, that “graduation” was a sign of success: having built a solid financial foundation so the company could continue growing autonomously.
