Pleo has made Soren Westh Lonning, a professional in the financial services sector with two decades of experience in companies such as Chr Hansen, WS Audiology, and Danish Endurance, its new CFO.This appointment symbolically suggests that the company wants to strengthen its financial discipline to eventually be ready for a stock market listing.Lonning has expressed that his aim is to take the company to profitability and build its maturity while still developing the business despite the current challenging market conditions.
Pleo, a Danish fintech firm, has added to its executive team by hiring Soren Westh Lonning as its new CFO, as the company signals its readiness for an IPO. Lonning has two decades of experience in the financial services industry, previously working at a bioscience company, WS Audiology, and a sports and outdoor clothing startup. He is most notably known for his tenure as CFO of Chr Hansen, a food enzyme maker listed on the Danish stock exchange with a market cap of more than $10 billion, and was part of the EU-approved $22 billion merger between Chr Hansen and Novozymes. When speaking to CNBC about his priorities as CFO, Lonning explains that Pleo is striving for profitability and maturity while making sound data-friendly decisions that balance growth and efficiency, even in the current difficult macroeconomic environment. He added, "We want to continue to grow and grow fast, but the environment also changed. That's a dilemma for companies, but even more so for the lifestyle of Pleo and tech companies. So I think I can contribute in that direction, making sure we get as good as possible resource allocation across the company in terms of, you know, finding, finding the pockets where we get most bang for the buck in investing."
Pleo isn't in a hurry to go public, but bringing on a new CFO is a sign that the company is strengthening its accounting and compliance teams and systems in anticipation of a stock market debut.Jeppe Rindom, Pleo's CEO, informed CNBC that the company is "constantly examining various options to fuel growth that benefit our customers." Although an IPO is an "important option," no decisions have been made."As part of the responsible decision-making that has led us to where we are today, we're mindful of how market conditions influence public tech companies and whether a decision like this would be in Pleo's and our stakeholders' best interests," Rindom commented.He added that Søren's hiring is all about strengthening Pleo's financial strategies during a period of strong expansion, due to market growth and investments to win mid-market customers.Rindom then said that given the maturity of the business, it is "just sensible" to start considering an IPO, and hinted that they want to be ready by 2025."It's difficult to be positive about the current markets, since this year has seen IPOs that have not performed phenomenally," he said. "Consequently, we don't see ourselves entering it at this time.""However, we are thoughtful, and we understand that to be prepared in two years, certain things need to start being thought of now. We are therefore beginning to move into this frame of mind."Rindom explained that employing a CFO like Lonning gives Pleo adequate "optionality" for an IPO, adding that they are upgrading their accounting, risk and compliance procedures so as to "mature in a way that is also agreeable with an eventual IPO, if needed."
Pleo recently entered the credit space with the launch of overdrafts as part of a broader product overhaul. The company intends to offer more credit products in the near future. With the aim of helping financial executives (such as CFOs and senior accountants) gain insight into their cash flow and make smart expense decisions, Pleo created a platform with a company-branded card that enables businesses to monitor their spending and categorize their expenses. Founded in Copenhagen in 2015, the fintech is currently worth an estimated $4.7 billion and competes with the likes of SAP Concur, Brex, Soldo, and Spendesk. It has raised $434 million in funding to date, backed by prominent investors including Coatue, Bain Capital Ventures, Thrive Capital, Creandum, and Seedcamp.
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