Paddle founder Christian Owens steps down as CEO
Christian Owens, founder of UK-based fintech Paddle, has stepped down as CEO of the firm and will instead move to the role of executive chair.
Paddle CEO Christian Owens steps down as CEO
Owens, who has been leading the firm for 11 years, will be replaced by current chief operating officer (COO) Jimmy Fitzgerald. Both Owens and Fitzgerald will take up their new roles effective immediately.
Prior to Paddle, Fitzgerald held senior roles at US software firm ServiceNow, leaving the company as senior vice president for customer outcomes.
In his new role as executive chair, Owens will be focusing on product, strategy and customer relationships, “things I’ve loved so much about building Paddle over the years”, he says.
The change at the top comes after the firm announced a round of layoffs in January. In a memo to employees, Owens said 8% of its total workforce faced the chop as the company looked to “adapt to what will be leaner times going forward” post-pandemic.
UK-based Paddle integrates checkout, payment, subscription management, invoicing, international taxes and financial compliance processes under one platform.
In May last year, it secured $200 million in a Series D funding round led by KKR, taking its valuation up to $1.4 billion. Later that month, the firm acquired ProfitWell, a provider of subscription metrics and retention software, in a deal worth more than $200 million in cash and equity.
