A Danish FinTech scaleup has been valued at $4.7 billion with its latest funding and plans to double the size of its team in the UK.
Pleo, which offers a simplified expense management tool and smart company cards, employs 60 people in Shoreditch, London.
A spokesperson told BusinessCloud it plans to reach 120 staff here next year.
“We’re looking to hire rapidly in this market,” they said. “Our UK team is currently based in Shoreditch, but in light of our massive growth, we’re looking to move into new offices in the new year to accommodate the influx of new staff.
“The location is yet to be confirmed, but we’re hoping to stay in the East London area.”
Pleo, which has 8,000 customers and around 50,000 users in the UK specifically, is aiming to increase global headcount from 430 to 800-900 in 2022 following the completion of its latest funding round.
The Series C extension, led by Coatue Management with Alkeon Capital joining, came in at £150m, taking the total Series C to £265m. There was further support from the existing investors, Bain Capital Ventures, Thrive Capital, Creandum, Kinnevik, Founders, Stripes and Seedcamp.
It nearly triples the valuation of the company. Bain Capital Ventures and Thrive Capital leading the initial series in July.
The additional funds will further empower Pleo’s plans to expand into Europe – with 15 territories marked for the immediate future – as well as supporting the company’s growing customer base, hiring initiatives and new spend management features.
Pleo currently offers smart company cards and expense management for businesses across Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Ireland and the UK.
Jeppe Rindom, co-founder and CEO, said: “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. With such great investment partners on board, the future is extremely bright for Pleo and our mission to transform the way businesses look at spend management.”
“The fact is that we didn’t need to continue to raise this year – but our Series C saw such demand that this extension was made possible. We have big ambitions to grow further across Europe, helping more businesses to solve their spending challenges and empower their teams.”
Pleo aims to acquire one million engaged users by the end of 2025 and has seen up to 1,000 new customers sign up every month in the last six months.
That was spurred by the launch of a freemium model in the autumn.