Personio Acquires Berlin Expense Management Startup Circula

Personio, the Munich-based HR and payroll software company, has acquired Circula, a Berlin startup founded in 2017 that handles spend management for European companies: out-of-pocket expenses, travel costs, corporate cards, employee benefits and incoming invoices. The purchase price was not disclosed. Circula's team moves to Personio, and the company has operated as "Circula by Personio" since 6 October 2026.

According to Munich Startup, Circula serves more than 3,000 companies and 250,000 users, and hundreds of customers already used both products through an existing integration. Circula is a DATEV Premium Partner with GoBD-compliant expense workflows built around German tax law. Circula will remain available as a standalone product for companies that do not use Personio and will keep being developed.

For shared customers, the two companies plan a deeper technical integration. Employee data, cost centers, approval workflows and payroll data can already be partly synchronized, and the DATEV interfaces of both platforms are to be expanded. Personio, founded in 2015, says more than 16,000 businesses use its software.

Munich Startup also reports that Personio acquired the Munich recruiting AI startup Aurio in the same period.

Why it matters

For HR and finance teams at small and mid-sized European companies, the deal points to fewer separate tools for payroll, benefits and expense reimbursement. Expense claims and benefits feed directly into payroll, so a shared employee record and shared approval workflows can remove manual exports between systems.

Buyers who use Circula without Personio should note the commitment to keep Circula as a standalone product, and those evaluating an HR suite can now ask Personio how far the integration goes today versus what is still on the roadmap.

Read the original: Munich Startup.