Spendesk, the Paris-based scaleup that provides a spending management platform for enterprises, broke even for the first time in Q1 2025 and is on track to remain profitable throughout the rest of the year.
It comes after a tough period for the French unicorn, which included mass layoffs and a change of governance. Last year former BCG partner Axel Demazy stepped in as CEO of the company, replacing cofounder Rodolphe Ardant, who kept a strategic advisory role.
“Spendesk went through a major transformation, and it was difficult,” Demazy tells Sifted. “The good news is we succeeded.”
The scaleup was in the black in the first quarter of the year. Demazy says this was due both to growing revenues and reducing operational costs, in particular thanks to AI.
Spendesk’s annual recurring revenue (ARR) in 2024 surpassed €50m. Demazy says the company’s experienced double-digit growth in its 2025 revenues so far when compared to the same period in 2024. Gross margins, in particular, have grown by 40%.
The scaleup plans to reach €60m in ARR by the end of 2025.
A tough period
Spendesk, which launched in 2016, provides a platform for businesses to manage corporate spending. Its tools range from invoice processing to corporate cards and expense reimbursements.
The scaleup has raised over €250m and reached a billion-dollar valuation in its latest round, a €100m extension to its Series C secured in 2022, which was led by US investor Tiger Global. Back then the scaleup announced plans to hire 300 people in 2022, and said it had already added 100 new hires in 2021 alone.
But following a slowdown in the business, last year Spendesk was reported to have launched a plan to lay off 150 employees.
Demazy confirms there were “staff adjustment measures”, without sharing how many employees were laid off. The scaleup now has a workforce of just over 300 people.
“A few years ago, like most of the industry, the vision was growth at all costs,” says Demazy. “But the world changed and we were all forced to enter into a logic of reasonable growth.”
In addition to reducing the size of the workforce, Spendesk also deployed AI internally to automate repetitive tasks and optimise costs. “It was important to catch the wave of productivity enabled by AI,” says Demazy.
What’s next for Spendesk?
Last year Spendesk announced a number of new features, including integrating procurement and spend processes thanks to the acquisition of French procurement company Okko. The scaleup also created a regulated payments institution, Spendesk Financial Services, which means payments made on the platform no longer go through third-parties.
These features significantly increased revenues, says Demazy. Spendesk now has 200k business users including brands like SoundCloud and Gousto. Half of its revenue comes from France and 40% from the UK, and it also has activity in Germany and Spain.
“We’ve ticked the profitability box,” says Demazy. “Now the priority is to double down on innovation.”
In a market that is seeing lots of consolidation, will Spendesk look for a buyer? “We’re going to have several options and the way we perform in the next 12 months will be critical to determine what’s next,” says Demazy.
“But the player that is profitable and growing usually takes the position of acquirer.”
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/spendesk-profitability-2025/
