Danish fintech unicorn Pleo, which offers a simplified expense management tool and smart company cards, has just extended its Series C round by $200 million, bringing the total raised to $350 million.
$4.7 billion valuation
Having reached unicorn status in July 2021, the new funding has nearly tripled their valuation to $4.7 billion and means Pleo consolidates its position as the largest spend management company in Europe.
The extension was led by the technology-focused investment manager, Coatue Management, followed by Alkeon Capital, joining Pleo’s Series C. There was further support from the existing investors, Bain Capital Ventures, Thrive Capital, Creandum, Kinnevik, Founders, Stripes and Seedcamp.
Massive roll-out across Europe
The new funds will enable Pleo to further accelerate their growth plans – including a massive roll-out across Europe from 2022. Having announced their entrance into Austria, Pleo now has eyes on a further fourteen EU territories, starting with Finland, the Netherlands, France and Portugal.
Jeppe Rindom, Co-founder and CEO at Pleo, says: “We’re thrilled to announce the extension of our Series C, welcoming Coatue and Alkeon to Pleo. Our growth in the last year has been exponential and the investment community has recognised our leading position.”
“We’re talking about 15 new territories in Europe, meaning we want to be operating in over twenty countries by 2023.”
1M users by 2025
The funds raised will also further Pleo’s to acquire one million engaged users by the end of 2025. They’re already seeing up to 1,000 new customers getting started with Pleo every month in the last six months, spurred by the launch of a freemium model this autumn, which brought the solution available to an even wider customer base.
Likewise, they want to continue to iterate their product, offering an increasing number of tools and features that can help both growing and established businesses to simplify and better manage their company spending.
Michael B. Gilroy, General Partner of Coatue Management, says: “We were impressed by how Pleo has already redefined the way that over 20,000 companies think about managing their expenses, saving them time and lowering costs while increasing transparency.”
Deepak Ravichandran, General Partner of Alkeon Capital, comments: “Europe is emerging as an important technology hub in both the public and private markets, as evidenced by the increase in venture capital activity across the continent. Pleo is building the leading B2B spend management platform in Europe, driven by a best-in-class user experience and rapid product innovation.”
Keri Gohman, Partner at Bain Capital Ventures, says: “With this extension to the Series C, Pleo is in an even stronger position – they’re undeniably the dominant player in small business spend management, an $80B+ opportunity in Europe alone, and will only grow more essential to businesses as the company expands into bill payments in the near future.”
The Series C investment originally was announced in July 2021, two years after Pleo’s Series B round, led by Stripes, which saw them raise $56m — previously the largest Series B round raised in Denmark to date. Prior to this, in 2018, Pleo raised its Series A round totalling $16m, which helped expand its solution across Europe. Today, Pleo operates in six markets across Denmark, UK, Ireland, Spain, Germany and Sweden.
The round is the biggest ever Series C in Denmark as well as one of the largest in Europe. Pleo started life in Copenhagen in 2015, co-founded by fintech veterans Jeppe Rindom and Niccolo Perra. Pleo’s top competitors include Zoho, Emburse, Spendesk, Brex and Rydoo.
