• Interview by:
  • Ana Marcela
Interview

Fintech Pleo enters Portugal. ‘Lisbon will have the second largest office outside Denmark’

There are already 70 people working at the Danish fintech company in Lisbon, which proposes to make it easier for SMEs and micro-enterprises to record expenses.

Pleo has “many expectations” for Portugal. The Danish fintech has just added the national market to the 11 European countries where it operates. In Lisbon, today there are 70 people working at the startup – which proposes to make it easier for SMEs and micro companies to record expenses – but by the end of the year there will be 100 more employees occupying the new eight-storey building on Avenida da Liberdade.

Lisbon will be an Academy for Pleo talent. “It will be an important hub for sales teams. It will be an Academy ecosystem in which we will have people who start their career here in Lisbon, who cover different markets, including the Portuguese market, and the idea is that they will stay with us for about 1.5 years and then they can continue their careers in other offices, in other markets, Madrid, etc. Lisbon will be the second largest office outside Denmark, our headquarters. We have many expectations for Portugal”, says Álvaro Dexeus, head of southern europe at Pleo, to ECO.

Outside Denmark, Lisbon will thus be the second largest office of the fintech, founded in 2015 in Copenhagen and which today is already present in 12 markets – besides Portugal, it operates in the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Ireland, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Finland, Austria, Belgium -, with over 900 employees and six offices in Europe (London, Stockholm, Berlin, Madrid, Lisbon and Copenhagen).

And with plans to grow. Last year alone Pleo raised $350 million – $200 million of which came in December – bringing the unicorn startup’s valuation to $4.7 billion. The Series C round – led by Coature Management, Alkeon Capital, Bain Capital Ventures and Thrive Capital, further backed by Creandum, Kinnevik, Founders, Stripes and Seedcamp – was one of the largest rounds in the series across Europe and fuelled expansion plans for Portugal, but not only. In December, the objectives were to open in 14 more markets, starting with Austria, Finland, the Netherlands and France.

Expansion plans continuing despite the slowdown in the tech ecosystem. Italy follows in September. “There are a lot of plans for Southern Europe and we will not slow down. But we are watching and working because we have to be aware of what is happening in the market, but right now, it is not affecting us. We have made no lay-offs and none are on our horizon”, guarantees Álvaro Dexeus.

Pleo offers companies a solution for managing expenses, by issuing company cards with individual spending limits, and the digitalisation of the expenses register. In Portugal, they say, 55% of companies use Excell and spend two days in this registration process.

Pleo raised $200 million in December to expand into new markets. Why Portugal?

We launched two years ago in Spain and looked at Portugal because of two key factors: the use of debit cards is highly widespread across the country – there is appetite for this type of offering – and secondly the lack of tech in the expense market.

When we did our market analysis, we found that 55% of Portuguese companies still use Excel as a tool to record their expenses, which is not only time-consuming but also means that there is a lot to do in this field. These two factors, together with our performance in Spain compared to the rest of the company, led us to open in Portugal.

Compared to our competitors, we are the only ones with a physical presence in Lisbon. It is a relevant factor in that we are putting all our eggs in one basket. We did a soft launch a month ago and we are focusing on micro-companies and the ‘appetite’ has been incredible. There are many businesses that are contacting us even before the launch – which is this Tuesday – to switch to this new tool. There is a lot of appetite and a lot of expectations for Portugal.

If we compare, for example, the United Kingdom, the most advanced market in terms of technological tools, with Southern Europe, companies take around eight hours to register their expenses, while in Southern Europe, in the Iberian region, it takes around two days, which is absurd.

SMEs and micro-enterprises make up the vast majority of the Portuguese business fabric and many have not yet made the digital leap. Is this an opportunity or an obstacle to your growth plans?

It is music to our ears. If we compare, for example, the United Kingdom, the most advanced market in terms of technological tools, with Southern Europe, companies take around eight hours to register their expenses, while in Southern Europe, in the Iberian region, it takes around two days, which is absurd. These types of markets are the most interesting for Pleo, so that we can add value.

Your goal is to reach one million users by 2025. What contribution can the Portuguese market represent?

Right now, our goal is to be disruptive in the market, I cannot say what Portugal’s contribution will be, but we know that we are first movers in the Portuguese market and that brings value. We are the first to open an office here and operate in the market. There are many expectations, but it is still too early to say what percentage of the contribution will be. Hopefully by the end of the year we will have data on the number of companies working with us.

So what are the plans for Portugal? You opened about a month ago an office in Lisbon.

We came to Portugal not only because of Portuguese companies, but also because of the Portuguese ecosystem. There are a lot of companies setting up, it’s a very open country. We already have 70 people working in our office – above the railway station in Rossio (in the Heden coworking space) – and we’re going to open, by the end of the year, in a building on Avenida da Liberdade. The space has eight floors and the whole building will be occupied by Pleo. You’ll be hearing a lot about us by the end of the year. From this space we will work not only for Portugal but also for the rest of Europe.

With this new space on the Avenida, how many people will Pleo employ?

It will depend on how many people we move to Lisbon, but there will be around 100 staff working from here. The sales teams will be contacting companies from the Lisbon office. It will be an important hub for sales teams.

It will be an Academy ecosystem in which we will have people who start their career here in Lisbon, who cover different markets, including the Portuguese market, and the idea is that they will stay for about 1.5 years with us and then they can continue their careers in other offices, in other markets, Madrid, etc. Lisbon will be the second largest office outside Denmark, our headquarters. We have a lot of expectations for Portugal.

We were very fortunate to have secured this investment in December, the market is not going to be as eager at the investment level anytime soon. We have plans to enter new markets this year and we are on track.

In terms of hiring you’re not going to limit yourselves to just local talent then. What profiles are you looking for?

We are looking for people who speak languages – this is very important – and flexibility. A Portuguese person who speaks Spanish, Italian or English will be a perfect candidate, allowing us to be more flexible in serving our clients. People familiar with the commercial area, and who have already worked in other startups, are more than capable candidates to apply to the Lisbon office. We are looking for people with language skills who are looking for a career in sales, we will give them the training and coaching they need for a job in Lisbon or another market.

Since Pleo’s last round in December, much has changed in the ecosystem. Layoff announcements have come. Has this situation in any way affected Pleo’s expansion plans, the project for Portugal?

We were very fortunate to have secured this investment in December, the market is not going to be as eager at the investment level anytime soon. We have plans to enter new markets this year and we are on track.

As of today, Portugal is part of the countries where Pleo is present, along with Italy, which is due to start up in September. So there are many plans for Southern Europe and we are not going to slow down. But we are watching and working because we have to be aware of what is happening in the market, but at the moment, it is not affecting us. We have not done any lay-offs and none are on our horizon.

  • Ana Marcela