Aptitude Software, a provider of enterprise finance software, has appointed Kenneth Paqvalén as CFO.
The company is scaling Fynapse, an AI-native Enterprise Resource Planning system for finance. ERP systems are used by organisations to manage and integrate their core business processes.
Paqvalén brings a strong track record of scaling SaaS and AI businesses. His 2020-2023 tenure at Matillion, a data pipeline platform for AI and analytics at scale, saw him grow the business from $150 million to $1.5 billion, achieving tech unicorn status.
“Kenneth joins Aptitude at a pivotal point in our journey,” said Alex Curran, CEO at Aptitude Software. “We have a significant opportunity ahead of us with Fynapse, and we’re focused on scaling the business to capture it.
“He brings deep financial leadership experience, a strong commercial mindset and a proven track record of helping SaaS and AI businesses grow. He also understands how the role of the CFO is changing: from steward of the numbers to a strategic co-pilot to the business.
“That perspective will be invaluable as we accelerate Fynapse, strengthen our commercial execution and pursue the opportunity we see in finance ERP.”
Paqvalén joins Aptitude Software from Napier AI, a London-based financial crimes compliance RegTech serving banking and insurance clients.
He previously held CFO positions at R3, and MariaDB, as well as heading up the finance and control function of Nokia’s business development unit, playing a key role in the acquisition of Motorola Networks.
Born in Finland, with Swedish as his mother tongue, he has worked worldwide from a London base for the past two decades.
He said: “It’s an exciting time to be joining. Fynapse is what CFOs have been waiting for – a Finance ERP that gives them a real-time P&L, numbers they can defend to a board, and the data foundation their AI strategy depends on.
“That’s the difference between finance reporting on what happened and finance shaping what happens next.
“I look forward to applying my experience with scaling high-growth companies to strengthen financial foundations and continue the development of the product base, while maintaining a focus on customers and their positive experience of the software.”