Faster. Better. Stronger — Growing Spendesk in 2020 & beyond

Spendesk adds $18M to its Series B and brings immense experience to the team with new CRO Joseph Smith. Time for CEO & Co-Founder Rodolphe Ardant to look back on some crazy months and look ahead to the next big steps.

Dear Spendeskers, dear customers, dear friends of Spendesk,

Half a year ago, on a Sunday night, I sat at my desk at home, trying to find the right words. The news in the background was talking of imminent lockdowns, closing borders and a rising uncertainty around the world.

And I was thinking about what to tell our team to give them some clarity for the future.

Since the early days of Spendesk, now more than four years ago, I've always liked to share some personal thoughts in my weekly message to the team, along with metrics and the latest company news. And while I always hope that every Spendesker reads it closely, I could be sure that this time they definitely would.

So I made a promise. I promised that we would come out of this crisis faster, better, and stronger. Individually, as a team, and as a business.

Without a doubt, the months since then have been the craziest I can remember, both personally and as a founder of a fast-growing international business. And while the global crisis obviously isn't over yet - and the world is still facing a high level of uncertainty - I am incredibly proud that we’ve delivered on that promise.

We’ve become faster, better, and stronger than before.

Why faster?

I was amazed by the speed at which we shipped projects during the past few months. Within days after lockdown, the team was more aligned than ever. We were clear on the new direction we needed to take, and we had a plan for how to get there. We instantly adjusted priorities, goals and routines, and went into execution mode.

And this quickly showed in our results. Spendesk is growing faster than before the crisis, setting new records in the past few months.

Our global finance community, CFO Connect, has doubled its membership since the beginning of the pandemic, with many finance professionals seeking support in a network of like-minded peers.

While we’ve always believed in the importance of decentralization and digitalization, the crisis has accelerated this need. Companies can’t afford inefficient processes like shared company credit cards or manual receipt collection anymore, especially with teams working remotely.

And more than ever, finance leaders need visibility and access to real-time data to navigate their businesses safely through these challenging times. The demand for spend management solutions like Spendesk is greater than ever.

Why better?

At Spendesk, we have two main priorities during this period. First, to do whatever it takes to keep our teams healthy, safe, and motivated. And second, to support our clients by any means necessary.

Instead of rushing decisions with a potentially negative long-term impact, we stayed calm and focused our energy on adapting fast. We didn't pull the emergency break on our growth plans, but instead continued growing the team (adding more than 70 new Spendeskers since March), so we would be ready when it was time to accelerate again. And we are.

As a team, we’ve learned a lot during this time. We’ve maintained the strong culture that we’ve invested in since day one. We’ve adapted to the “new normal”, and tried a lot of things to stay close while being (physically) apart. Things like virtual coffee breaks and after-work team buildings on Zoom, with games and beers.

Like most companies, our whole onboarding experience is now remote, and the feedback we’ve had from newcomers is incredibly positive. We introduced new employee benefits focused on mental health and well-being during these difficult times.

And all Spendeskers can now choose whether they want to come to the office on a regular basis (COVID-permitting), or have a contract that lets them work fully remote from a location of their choice.

Why stronger?

Because we’ve proven that we can achieve our bold goals – even in challenging times. We are resilient, as a business and as a team. We’ve thrived amidst uncertainty and chaos. And we’re now ready to take the next big steps on our journey.

I’m proud to share that Spendesk just added a further $18 million to last year’s Series B round. And we're welcoming a strong new partner: global VC fund Eight Roads Ventures. This lets us capitalize on our momentum, and grow without limits. We've known Eight Roads for many years and I’m excited that they’ve decided to join our adventure.

I’m also thrilled to have Joseph Smith join the team as Chief Revenue Officer. I met Joseph a while back, and I knew from the beginning that he was completely aligned with our mission and culture. With his tremendous experience, across different leadership roles, industries, and countries, he'll help us scale our go-to-market strategy and achieve our ambition to become the market leader in our key European markets.

So this is why I can say with confidence: we’re faster, better and stronger than ever.

Thank you!

Before I sign off, I want to take the chance to say a few thank yous.

The first one is to all our Spendeskers! I can’t emphasize enough how much I appreciate your hard work in the past months, knowing that it wasn’t always easy to stay positive and focused while the world around you went crazy. I'm so impressed by what we’ve achieved together, and very excited for the road ahead with all of you.

I also want to thank all of our partners and friends of Spendesk. Your support gives us the confidence we need on this journey.

And most importantly, thank you to our customers! The trust and feedback you’ve given us all throughout these uncertain times motivates us every day to keep improving our platform and investing in our community. We want to reiterate that we’re here to help you navigate your businesses safely through these challenging times.

So I want to extend my promise to you today: together we will all come out of this faster, better and stronger.

– Rod, Co-Founder and CEO at Spendesk