Dive Brief:

• Julien Lafouge, an alum of French carpooling platform BlaBlaCar, will  will make boosting hiring a priority in his newly-minted role as group CFO for fellow French startup Spendesk, according to emailed responses sent to CFO Dive.
• Lafouge became CFO for the spend management provider in June 2022, according to the company, with Spendesk announcing the move per a Sept. 8 press release.
• “The overarching goal is that the finance and legal functions provide the best support for the growth of the business,” Lafouge wrote. “We must be enablers, not hindrances. To achieve this, I will first listen and ask a lot of questions as I deepen my understanding of the business. There will also be a drive on recruitment as we continue building the team.”

Dive Insight:

Fabien Dawidowicz, the previous CFO for Spendesk, departed from the position in January 2022, though he remains a “private investor” in the firm according to his LinkedIn profile. Dawidowicz now serves as CFO for French IT and IT consulting company Yespark, a position he also began in January.

In the interim between Dawidowicz’s departure and Lafouge’s appointment, the company — which offers spend management software to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) — tapped its Head of Finance Clémentine Svartz to lead its finance team, Spendesk confirmed.

Lafouge’s appointment comes as the Paris, France-based startup consolidates its plans for expansion throughout Europe, with the company having previously closed a €100 million (approximately $114 million USD) funding round in January 2022.

The round was led by venture capital fund Tiger Global — allowing the startup to reach “unicorn” status at a valuation of $1.5 billion USD, according to a Jan.18 report by Bloomberg. The funds, which followed six months after a previous €100 million raise by the firm, were earmarked for increasing headcount and for further investment in its “7-in-1” spend management platform, according to a company release on the raise.

The firm’s newly tenured CFO pointed to further growing the team as well as focusing on investing in the firm’s CFO Connect platform as priorities for the coming year.

“One priority is hiring,” Lafouge wrote. “We want to grow the team to more than 600 people in 2023 to drive our European growth and continue to expand our offer.”

Another top priority over the next year will be expanding the company’s CFO Connect platform, an online global hub and resource center for financial heads.

Continuing to invest in the hub will be a top priority for the company especially as finance leaders “now, more than ever, are leveraging their network and seeking advice from their peers,” Lafouge wrote. The hub has 8,500 members, according to Spendesk.

Lafouge will also take on the financial helm for the spend management company during a time when the economic environment is rapidly changing, with inflationary pressures, the ongoing war in Ukraine and the encroaching recession all having an impact, he wrote. The present economic context has only increased companies’ need for transparent spend management, however, he said.

“Companies need to keep an eye on their cash flow, spend efficiently, and have enough visibility on their expenses to be able to track them,” he wrote. “The challenges for customers haven’t changed. If anything, they have become more obvious and increase the need for a modern spend management solution.”