Berlin-based SaaS fintech Circula on course for transformation and growth

Berlin, 20.03.2024 – Berlin-based software-as-a-service fintech Circula has announced a steep transformation and growth process with the introduction of its new leadership team.

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The company continues to be led by co-founder and CEO Nikolai Skatchkov, who founded the fintech in 2017 together with Roman Leicht, CTO. When selecting the new CRO, CFO, VP Sales and VP Marketing, particular attention was placed on experience in scaling start-ups. The new joiners will help Circula to become the European leader for employee expenses and leave competitors such as SAP Concur, Lanes & Planes and Edenred behind. The aim is to reach 1 million paying users by 2029.

Circula aims to become Europe's best platform for employee expenses

The company, whose platform can be used to manage employee expenses of all kinds, such as travel expenses, out-of-pocket expenses, credit cards and employee benefits, currently has over 1,700 satisfied customers and initial successes in the Spanish and Dutch markets (NRR of above 135 percent, NPS of 51 percent). In 2022, Circula raised a double-digit million amount in a Series A financing round. The company recently expanded its product portfolio to include a corporate credit card.

Now, according to Nikolai Skatchkov, it is time to scale: "2024 will be a year of change for our company. We have a clear mission to build the best European platform for employee spending. Our new leadership will focus on building a scalable and efficient go-to-market strategy."

Management team to boost international growth

Under the leadership of Alistair Newman (formerly Hootsuite, SimilarWeb, Dext among others) as CRO, all go-to-market functions are now to be bundled. Newman brings with him a wealth of experience from over 25 years in the software industry and has already led successful GTM strategies for numerous companies, start-ups and listed companies alike. Under his leadership, Circula aims to build on its strong presence in the German market, where it is already the market leader in expense management, and expand further in the Netherlands and Spain by the end of 2024.

Johannes Kochs (formerly of Staffbase, among others) will support this goal in his new role as CFO. Kochs has many years of experience in finance and most recently proved his skills for business scaling in the role of SVP of Finance at Staffbase. Under his leadership, the company's turnover increased tenfold. Staffbase also became a Unicorn in 2022.

The new team is complemented by Niko Thielsch (formerly Adjust, among others) as VP Sales Germany, who is particularly familiar with the intricacies of various growth strategies of scale-ups thanks to his many years of work in the SaaS sector, and by Etienne Echinard (formerly Payfit, Criteo, Mirakl, Rakuten, among others) who brings crucial experience in the field of growth marketing as the new VP Marketing.

Skatchkov explains the choice as follows: "The new management team has extensive experience in the B2B SaaS sector and has already successfully scaled champions such as SimilarWeb, Adjust, Criteo as well as scale-ups such as Staffbase, Dext and Payfit. Scale-ups are rare in Europe, so we were looking for the right people who know first-hand how to build a cross-product and international success story. What led us to Alistair, Johannes, Niko and Etienne is their great passion for their craft and their drive to build a world-class company."

Expansion does not go unnoticed

Circula was recently ranked 80th in the "FT 1000: Europe's fastest-growing companies" by the Financial Times, and is even among the top 20 German companies. The "FT 1000" 2024 ranking, which was compiled in collaboration with the German market research company Statista, recognized European companies that have shown resilience and experienced an upswing despite the challenges of recent years, such as the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, inflation and the energy crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine.

The consulting and auditing company Deloitte also presented the company with the "Technology Fast 50 Award" last Thursday. With this award, Deloitte recognizes the fifty fastest growing companies in the German tech sector each year, based on their percentage sales growth over the past four financial years. With a growth rate of 1,987.27%, Circula was ranked in 10th place.

Skatchkov comments: "We are of course delighted to receive these awards. Our growth is being recognized. With our new management team, we have a real opportunity to build a long-lasting European technology company. The feedback from our users gives us confidence that we will become an integral part of financial and HR technology in Europe. Having developed a product with world-class customer reviews and very strong customer loyalty, we are looking forward to building the market leader in employee expense management. But it's not just about chasing a North Star. The journey to build a business is an experience. And we're glad that in Alistair, Johannes, Niko, and Etienne we've found people who share our mindset."

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About Circula

Circula is an expense platform for any payments done by employees: travel expenses, credit cards and employee benefits. The company’s mission is to simplify finance and payroll administration, while ensuring compliance through smart automations – so employees can do their best job.

This way, Circula is creating the path for an employee-centric future around everyday business processes. This mantra has earned the company industry leader recognition from review platforms G2 and Capterra.

Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, Circula is a leading expense management solution for small and medium-sized European businesses such as About You, DATEV, Deutsche Fußball Liga, Noerr, McMakler, and Securitas. Today, more than 150,000 employees use Circula. The company was founded in 2017 and has raised over USD 25 million in venture capital to date.

Press contact

Oseon

Jennifer Weiß

+49 171 77 85 132

circula@oseon.com

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