Coupa Nabs Former Salesforce Exec

Corporate spend management firm Coupa has announced a new hire, and he is a seasoned veteran from another big name in corporate money management.

Coupa said Wednesday (Dec. 23) that former Salesforce Vice Chairman Frank van Veenendaal will join the cloud-based expense management firm on its board of directors.

[bctt tweet=”Former Salesforce Vice Chairman Frank van Veenendaal will join Coupa.”]

“Frank is a world-class business leader, with an exceptional background in global sales execution and customer success development, who helped pioneer enterprise adoption of SaaS solutions,” said Coupa CEO Rob Bernshteyn in a statement.

According to the announcement, van Veenendaal has more than three decades of experience in the enterprise cloud industry; Coupa noted he was crucial to Salesforce’s growth during his time at the company, where he also served as president of worldwide sales and services, chief sales officer and president of global corporate sales for Salesforce’s North America operations.

“Coupa is a very special company, and I couldn’t be more delighted about joining the board of directors,” the new hire said in a statement. “The company is in a class by itself with its unparalleled ability to help companies manage their bottom line and improve long-term shareholder value.”

Van Veenendaal added that he sees connectivity between the growth of Salesforce and the growth of Coupa. “I believe Coupa has the opportunity to transform spend management, similarly to how Salesforce transformed CRM [customer relationship management],” he stated.

Coupa has seen significant growth in 2015. Last summer, the company raised new funding that pushed it into the unicorn club, being valued at $1 billion. At the time, Bernshteyn said the $80 million funding round, which was announced last June, would be used to expand its portfolio of services.