Chief Executive Officer, Shane Happach

Previously

EVP, Head of Global eCommerce, Worldpay
Chief Commercial Officer, eCommerce division, Worldpay

Company

Mollie are a pioneer in the payment industry, as one of the fastest growing payment processors within Europe. They facilitate companies of all sizes to scale and grow by using different payment methods. With the help of a simple and clear payments-API Mollie can offer multiple payment methods in a uniform way. Their mission is to become the most-loved PSP in Europe by simplifying complex financial services. They have nearly 100,000 customers in Europe and employ an international team of over 400 professionals. Mollie are headquartered in Amsterdam with offices in four other locations across Europe.

Mollie has raised €105m from investors across two funding rounds, and most recently closed a €90m investment from TCV, valuing the business at over €1bn.

Search Background

Founded in 2004 in Amsterdam by Adriaan Mol, the company has established a position of dominance in the Netherlands and Belgium. The company also launched in Germany and France and in 2019 processed over €5bn of transactions and forecast this to grow by more than 100% in 2020. The company was in the middle of raising its series B funding round when they partnered with Erevena, with the expectation that this funding would help the business reach new heights.

The incoming CEO would be responsible for leading and scaling the current business into an international market leader. They will work with the board to analyse Mollie’s current position and build a company strategy that matches the market opportunity that Mollie has in front of it, encompassing new market opportunities, product innovations and building scalable process’ and structures.

The CEO would also be a trusted leader capable of constructively engaging with the industry regulators and be able to define the companies’ risk appetite and ensure all functions act consistently with this.

Requirements

We were looking for a rare blend of skills in the CEO: someone who had been through a growth journey which resonated with Mollie’s future plans, including international expansion into several markets, and management of complex relationships with the regulator through a deep understanding of the payments industry. The CEO needed to be a natural, inspirational, leader who could help build on Mollie’s core cultural foundations whilst managing the transition from a Founder led business.

We were highly aware that the European market for Executives at this level, with this skillset, and the cultural fit with Mollie’s values was limited. This meant we needed to be highly focused in our approaches, and work closely with Mollie to make any engagement compelling in order to secure a world-class CEO.

Result

Shane Happach was placed from Worldpay, having been identified as one of the very few candidates who was a strong match to the search criteria. He played a pivotal role in the successful growth of Worldpay, first as Chief Commercial Officer of its eCommerce division and more recently as EVP and Head of Global eCommerce. He was a member of the executive team at Worldpay for its London IPO and its acquisition by both Vantiv, and FIS. Prior to Worldpay, he worked with GlobalCollect – acquired by Ingenico in 2014 – in business development roles across the Americas and EMEA.

Anna Brandt

Advisor to the Board

We partnered with Erevena as they clearly demonstrated a strong understanding of working with ambitious, growth-minded businesses. They understood the importance of this hire for Mollie and gave us the confidence that they truly understood the market for talent at this level.
In the early stages of the search, we worked closely with the team to shape a comprehensive search strategy focusing on businesses with the same ethos as Mollie. Erevena ran a process that was thorough and detailed, and resulted in a highly concentrated group of candidates to focus on.
Shane was the stand-out candidate for this role, and one of the few executives who excelled against our tough search criteria. We are delighted to secure a transformational hire for Mollie and are grateful to Erevena for their key advice and guidance throughout the process.

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