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HERO Software

“Can a vertical SaaS for German craft SMEs become the all-in-one financial and operational OS for the trades sector across Europe?”

Founded2012
HQHannover, Germany
FoundersDr. Michael Kessler, Philipp Lyding
Total raised€40M+ (Series B alone)
Latest roundSeries B, July 2024
IndustryVertical SaaS / Construction
The story

HERO Software was founded in 2012 as Energieheld, a climate-tech marketplace aimed at accelerating solar and heat-pump installations in Germany's building sector. Recognising that fragmented, paper-heavy craft businesses were the real bottleneck, the founders pivoted to build a vertical SaaS ERP — rebranding as HERO Software around 2020. After reaching 40,000+ users across the DACH trades sector, the company raised a €40M Series B in 2024 to pan-European expansion. In 2026 HERO launched HERO Wallet via Swan, embedding a virtual-IBAN payments and reconciliation layer directly into the platform — marking its deliberate move toward becoming the financial operating system for craft SMEs.

Last 12 months
2024-07
2026-06
Product timeline
2012
Founded as Energieheld (later Lyke), initially focused on accelerating energy transition by connecting tradespeople with solar/heat-pump installation projects.· pivot
2020
Rebranded and relaunched as HERO Software, pivoting to a full field-service-management / ERP platform for German craft SMEs.· pivot
2024
Closed €40M Series B led by Eight Roads Ventures to expand across Europe.· acquisition
2026
Launched HERO Wallet — an embedded payments and invoice-reconciliation product powered by Swan — directly inside the HERO platform.· banking
The stack
3 layers disclosed in HERO Software’s embedded-finance stack
Money movement
SEPA
Banking / BaaS
in the full report
Accounting
in the full report
Accounting gap: minor
3 more providers across 2 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.