Nicolas Kopp has seen the inside of fintech’s biggest shifts — and now he’s leading one of his own.
As the former U.S. CEO of N26, Kopp helped steer a European neobank to unicorn status. Today, he’s the Founder and CEO of Rillet, an AI-native ERP platform aiming to automate everything from invoicing to revenue recognition. His goal is ambitious: eliminate the pain of the monthly close entirely and replace it with what he calls a “zero day close.”
But what sets Kopp apart is how transparently he shares the journey. His recent LinkedIn posts offer a raw look into the reality of building fintech infrastructure in 2025 — and why he believes AI is finally ready to replace the bloated legacy tools slowing down growth-stage companies.
As seen in Millionaire MNL, Kopp is not just building software. He’s rebuilding trust in how finance software should actually work.
Rillet raised $13.5M — now Kopp wants to earn every dollar
In July 2024, Kopp announced that Rillet had raised a $13.5 million seed round led by First Round Capital, Creandum, and Susa Ventures. He shared the news in a thoughtful LinkedIn post highlighting not just the milestone, but what it meant to his team: pressure to deliver, pressure to scale, and a renewed focus on product integrity.
Kopp wrote:
“We’re grateful — but aware. The real work begins now.”
It’s a tone that resonates in a market flooded with overfunded SaaS platforms struggling to ship features. For Rillet, the capital is fuel, not a finish line.
Automating finance: from chaos to clarity
Another recent post by Kopp tackled the reality of financial operations in high-growth companies. He shared a behind-the-scenes view into how Rillet automates journal entries, reconciliations, and deferred revenue, making the case that finance doesn’t have to be a month-end fire drill.
In his words:
“Why is it acceptable for finance teams to wait weeks to understand performance? We think it shouldn’t be.”
That post sparked dozens of comments from CFOs and operators dealing with exactly that challenge — and validated the growing appetite for real-time financial tooling in the AI age.
A personal philosophy on product-building
In a third recent update, Kopp reflected on how building a product like Rillet requires brutal simplicity. He explained how the team strips away unnecessary features and complexity — even when it’s tempting to overbuild — and focuses instead on reliability and speed.
He wrote:
“The best ERP systems don’t need dashboards that look like airline cockpits. They need to work. Fast, clean, and right.”
It’s a reminder that while AI is the buzzword of the moment, execution still wins. And Kopp is betting that execution — not hype — is what will carry Rillet from seed stage to category-defining status.
Why Nicolas Kopp’s second act may be even bigger than N26
With over 70 customers already using Rillet across SaaS and usage-based revenue models, and backing from investors with deep operational DNA (including former Stripe and Facebook execs), Kopp’s platform is positioned to lead the new wave of ERP innovation.
But more than the product, it’s Kopp’s leadership style — pragmatic, honest, and relentlessly user-focused — that’s catching attention across fintech and SaaS.
From running a global neobank to rebuilding the software stack for finance teams, Nicolas Kopp is proving that real innovation doesn’t just mean faster payments or slicker apps. Sometimes, it means finally fixing the tools everyone hates to use.
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