A Berlin DaaS Startup Just Secured a Key Financing Deal

Jan de Vries · 2026-09-30

Let's talk about a recent move in the European tech scene that caught my eye. A Berlin-based company called Everphone, which operates in the Device-as-a-Service (DaaS) space, just secured a major refinancing package. We're talking about $16.2 million (€15 million). This isn't just a random cash injection, though. It's a strategic play. The money comes from two heavyweight German financial institutions: Commerzbank and the state-owned development bank KfW. This deal follows a massive $292 million (€270 million) Series D round they closed back in 2024. So, what's the plan for the cash? It's all about inventory. This funding is specifically earmarked to finance new smartphones, tablets, and laptops for their corporate clients' employees. Think of it as fuel for their long-term leasing engine. ### Why This Deal Matters for Unit Economics Everphone's CFO, Veronika von Heise-Rotenburg, put it perfectly. She explained that in the DaaS world, profitability lives and dies at the unit economics level. And financing costs? They're one of the biggest line items. Her team has been chipping away at this for years, setting up facilities and squeezing the interest margin down with each round. This latest deal with Commerzbank and KfW? She calls it their biggest step yet in terms of scaling their inventory capabilities. It's a classic case of optimizing the core engine to drive growth. ### The Broader European Funding Landscape Here's something interesting. This deal lands in what's been a pretty quiet year for financing in the European device-subscription and business-equipment sector. Seriously, when you look at 2026, there have only been two other notable deals that even come close. - London's Raylo grabbed about $37.3 million (€34.5 million) back in January to expand its categories and go global. - Another London firm, equipal, raised roughly $20.4 million (€18.84 million) in June to boost its business equipment financing capacity. Add Everphone's $16.2 million to the mix, and you're looking at roughly $73.8 million (€68.3 million) flowing into this niche across the whole year. It shows a focused, but not exactly booming, investor interest. ### What Exactly Does Everphone Do? Founded in 2016, Everphone has carved out a solid niche. They're a full-service DaaS platform for businesses. That means they handle the entire device lifecycle for their clients. We're talking procurement, setup, management, security, and even replacements. They offer a "Choose-your-own-Device" model, so employees aren't stuck with a generic laptop. They can pick what works for them. They even have a buy-and-rent-back option for companies that already have a fleet of devices. On top of the hardware, they provide managed services for things like mobile device management (MDM), mobile threat defense, and tariff management. Their client list is impressive, too—over 1,000 organizations, including major global consultancies and corporations listed on the German DAX index. ### A Decade-Long Banking Relationship Pays Off This new financing structure is built on a ten-year relationship with Commerzbank, which also acts as Everphone's main bank. For KfW, it's the second time they've backed Everphone through their Venture Tech Growth Financing program. Jochen Eichmann from KfW highlighted why this fit works. Scale-ups, especially during growth phases, need financing that's both fast and predictable. That's the gap their program aims to fill, helping companies like Everphone become integral tech and sustainability partners for their customers. The real kicker? The financial engineering here is aimed directly at improving those all-important unit economics. The new deal comes with an interest margin that's 20 basis points lower than their previous financing. In a cost-sensitive model, that's a meaningful improvement. It also lets them buy replacement devices in larger volumes at lower unit costs. That's crucial because Everphone provides free replacements to customers if a device fails. Better terms upstream mean a more sustainable and customer-friendly model downstream. It's a smart, circular approach to business tech.