SoundCloud exec BianRosa joins N26 as new CPO
European challenger bank, N26, has hired former SoundCloud executive Gilles BianRosa as its new chief product officer.
BianRosa will lead N26’s product development globally
BianRosa spent just under two years at the audio distribution platform, and also has experience at Samsung Electronics, Tivo-acquired Fan TV, and Spigot-acquired Vuze.
He holds an MBA in general management from Harvard Business School, but has never worked at a financial institution.
N26 says BianRosa will lead all product teams based across the company’s main offices and technology hubs in Berlin, Barcelona, Vienna and New York.
“After almost two decades in Silicon Valley, I’m very pleased to be joining one of the most dynamic product teams in fintech,” says BianRosa.
“I look forward to applying my experience from the world of online consumer services to help N26 continue to connect authentically with its customers.”
N26 CEO, Valentin Stalf, says Gilles has “a track record of delivering consumer-facing innovation”.
“With Gilles on board, we will expand our experience further to being banking that easily connects an account with one’s lifestyle in an even more tangible way.”
BianRosa’s appointment arrives a few weeks after it was revealed N26 had lost 300 employees in the space of 12 months.
The company is now trying to recruit around 500 new employees by the end of June, according to an internal email seen by Finance Forward.
Whilst N26 supposedly has a twice-yearly promotion cycle, in September and March, “several employees” told Finance Forward this did not happen due to the pandemic.
The challenger bank is under pressure to cut losses, which climbed 310% to €216.9 million in 2019.
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