The fintech has just expanded its Series C financing round with an extension of 200 million dollars, which are added to the 150 captured last July. The latest round allowed the scaleup to achieve unicorn status, with a business value of 1.7 billion. Now, this number shoots up to 4.7 billion dollars.
The expansion of the round is led by Coatue Management (Global technology investment manager) and also incorporates Alkeon Capital. Along with them participate, the already investors of Pleo, Bain Capital Ventures, Thrive Capital, Creandum, Kinnevik, Founders, Stripes and Seedcamp.
A total commitment to Europe, talent and innovation
The capital injection will be destined, to a large extent, to boost business growth through an ambitious internationalization strategy. Pleo, which already operates in six of the main European markets (Denmark, United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany, Ireland and Spain), intends to land in 15 new countries in the short term. The expansion will begin in 2022 and will cover markets such as Austria, Finland, the Netherlands, France and Portugal, among others.
The new funding will also be used to increase the customer base, with the goal of reaching one million users by 2025, thus continuing the growth trend of 2021. During the last six months, Pleo has maintained an average customer acquisition rate of 1,000 companies per month. Likewise, it will be committed to attracting talent with the ambition of expanding the current team, which already exceeds 400 people, as well as the development of new tools and functionalities.
In the words of Jeppe rindom, CEO of Pleo: “We are excited to announce the expansion of our C Series and to welcome Coatue and Alkeon. Over the last year, we have had exponential growth that has been recognized by high profile investors. We have a great future ahead of us, in which we will continue to advance our mission to transform the way companies manage their expenses. We are going to open 15 new markets, which means being in more than 20 countries in 2023. For this, we have plans to double our team, improve our product and launch new tools and functionalities, opening our way to new areas, such as offering credit to our customers”.
Aiyana Moorhead, Country Manager for Spain at Pleo, points out that “The arrival in Spain was Pleo’s last international adventure. Less than two years later, we can say that it has been a success “. Responsible for the entry of Pleo in the Spanish market, and previously in the UK, Moorhead will now take an active role in the new expansion plans. In less than two years of activity in the country, Pleo has managed to gain the trust of more than 700 Spanish companies and double the initial size of its local team. In addition, in November, it launched Pleo Free, a new business plan that allows companies or teams of up to five employees to use its technology for free.
Michael B. Gilroy, General Partner of Coatue Management, states that “We are impressed by how Pleo has managed to redefine the way more than 20,000 businesses approach expense management, helping them save time, reduce costs and increase transparency. So we are proud to partner with Jeppe and the team, and help them drive their next phase of growth, in which they will continue to expand across Europe and focus on transforming the area of business expense management. “
