Pleo appoints new Chief People Officer to its executive team

By Joy Dumasia

Pleo, which offers simplified spend management and smart company cards, boosts its executive team with the induction of Mette Hindborg Gade, functioning as the company’s Chief People Officer. 

As a former Partner in McKinsey & Company with an educational background in Engineering, Mette is an experienced leader and problem-solver specialising in driving people-first organisational transformations and rapid growth companies within the financial sector. Her position as Head of People for the consultancy firm’s Copenhagen outfit saw Mette nurturing a diverse range of high-performing talent. 

Mette has been working with Pleo in an advising capacity to help build, introduce, and roll out the company’s new operating model. This will enable Pleo to enter 15 markets by the end of 2022, hire 500+ new team members globally in the same period, and enhance individual career growth, inclusion, and impact for its 500+ current employees.

Mette Hindborg Gade said: “It makes me really happy to be joining Pleo. Every moment I have spent with Pleo has made me more excited and more attached to the product, the problem Pleo solves and most importantly, the mission that the team is driving. Pleo is a truly special company advocating not just for a new way of handling business spending but embodying a common, aspirational vision: to make everyone feel valued at work. I cannot wait to help unlock that potential in our own growing workforce and make Pleo the most valued B2B employer brand in the world just as I know it can be.”

Mette’s arrival to Pleo is preceded by two other new C-level executives from February: James Keating (formerly Microsoft, Cognizant, Dropbox) as Chief Marketing Officer, and Anita Szarek (PayU, Cargill) as Chief Financial Officer.  

James Keating said: “While the spend management vertical is flush with healthy competition at present, Pleo has the product, brand, team and agility to continue its streak as the leading spending solution in Europe. We have ambitious, bold initiatives planned throughout this year that will accelerate our growth and allow us to offer Pleo to even more forward-thinking companies everywhere.” 

Recently, IBS Intelligence reported that Pleo, which offers a simplified expense management tool and smart company cards, has just extended its Series C round by $200m (USD), raising the total to $350 million.