By Aisling Finn on Wednesday 24 March 2021
Gilles BianRosa will be based in N26's Berlin headquarters and will oversee the digital bank's product teams in Barcelona, Vienna and New York.
German challenger bank N26 has appointed Gilles BianRosa as its latest chief product officer.
BianRosa was previously CPO at music streaming site SoundCloud and prior to that was CPO at Samsung Electronics, overseeing content and services for Samsung Smart TVs.
The incoming CPO will put his two decades worth of experience in Silicon Valley to good use helping the bank to implement its global expansion plans and scale N26’s products and services.
Of his appointment, BianRosa said: "After almost two decades in Silicon Valley, I'm very pleased to be joining one of the most dynamic product teams in fintech globally. I look forward to applying my experience from the world of online consumer services to help N26 continue to connect authentically with its customers.”
“Having already begun to redefine banking for customers, I believe that N26 has a unique opportunity to touch more aspects of daily life with their simple, trusted, and delightful experience."
BianRosa will be based in N26’s Berlin headquarters but will manage the digital bank’s product teams across other offices, including Barcelona, Vienna and New York.
Valentin Stalf, co-founder and CEO of N26, added: "Gilles has a track record of delivering consumer-facing innovation that truly engages, excites and entertains customers.”
“Today, N26 has revolutionized how people relate to their banking experience on an everyday basis. 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, who will start his new role in the coming months, is the latest member to join N26’s leadership team after the bank appointed a new CFO with Maximilian Tayenthal being promoted to co-CEO role with fellow co-founder Valentin Stalf.
Dr Jan Kemper, the former CFO of e-commerce platform Zalando, stepped into the role to help N26 work towards its inevitable IPO.
The digital bank has also solidified its international expansion plans, securing its Brazilian banking licence earlier this year to take on native challenger bank Nubank.
As a result of its costly international expansion plans, N26 also saw losses for 2019 and 2020 reach a whopping €165m and €110m respectively.
According to the bank, it’s launch in Brazil cost €25m, while its failed UK expansion plans cost nearly €27m.
N26 also recently quietly added another €30m to its Series D, taking the total now to $570m.
Most of the funding came from long-time investor VC firm Earlybird and the family behind jewellery powerhouse Swarovski invested in the bank for the first time through its subsidiary, asset manager Crystalon Finanz AG.
21 March 2023
Daniel Lanyon