Amsterdam fintech unicorn Mollie appoints Koen Köppen as new CEO, replacing Shane Happach

Amsterdam-based Mollie, a fintech company, announced on Wednesday that it has appointed Koen Köppen as its new CEO, replacing Shane Happach.

Köppen, previously the CTO of Klarna for five years, joined Mollie as CTO in May to support its expansion.

The company says that in his new role, Köppen will drive Mollie’s mission to simplify complex financial services and level the playing field for small- and medium-sized e-commerce companies taking on larger competitors. 

Köppen’s appointment is conditional upon approval by the Dutch Central Bank and on the advice of Mollie’s Works Council. 

Shane Happach, Mollie’s current CEO, is taking up a leadership role in Asia.

“We’re delighted to be welcoming Koen into a new and elevated role. We’ve been very impressed by Koen’s achievements and drive over the last eight months,” says Eli Leenaars, Chair of Mollie. 

“Shane can be proud of the company he leaves behind, leading our Series C funding round and our move into financial services. We wish him the very best in his new role,” he adds. 

Köppen will also be involved in increasing the pace of product development and delivery.

The announcement comes three months after launching its financial services, Mollie Capital, a fast and flexible way for customers to access funding.

The company says the launch is a crucial step for the company in the financial services sector and allows better access to funds for SMEs.

Mollie: Everything you need to know

Founded in 2004 by Adrian Mol, Mollie is a payments platform that offers an easy-to-implement process for integrating payments into a site or app. 

Mollie’s mission is to simplify online payments for merchants by taking away the complexity of payment methods and offering a simple yet powerful API.

Currently, the Amsterdam-based firm processes payments for more than 130,000 clients with local payment methods such as Mastercard, VISA, Amex, PayPal, iDEAL, and more.

The Dutch fintech firm has an international team of more than 750 employees from offices across Europe, including Amsterdam, Lisbon, London, Munich, and Paris.