Newly Minted Danish Unicorn Ready to Ride Next Wave of Corp Travel Payments
Photo Credit: Pleo is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. Unsplash / Rolands Varsbergs
Skift Take
Travel is coming back and there’s all-to-play-for vibe in the expenses market, but startup Pleo could overstretch itself.
A Danish fintech startup has raised a record amount of funding, spotting ongoing digitization of the way companies handle payments and a global recovery to help it expand. The accompanying business travel rebound is in its sights too — but other expense players and corporate travel agencies will also be watching on the return of bigger budgets.
Pleo raised $150 million last week, in a round co-led by Bain Capital Ventures and Thrive Capital, with contributions from existing investors Creandum, Kinnevik, Founders, Stripes and Seedcamp. It claimed it's the largest Series C raised by a Danish-headquartered company, and with that it now achieves unicorn status following a new valuation of $1.7 billion.
The are several reasons why these investors are getting excited.
One is remote work. At the start of the the pandemic, lunch meetings and taxi receipts switched to spending on software, desks and occasionally donuts. But those new types of expenses are staying put as companies make remote work a permanent fixture. Pleo hopes to tap into these new decentralized workforces with a "Power to your People" ethos, according to its CEO.
"We believe this is what makes us different," said CEO and co-founder Jeppe Rindom. "We built Pleo around the idea of financial tra
