Plaid is now active in five European countries, having begun its expansion with the UK, followed by Ireland, France and Spain six months later, and then most recently Holland. Over the last year, it’s also grown its European team to 25 employees — many coming from the US — and is continuing to scale in the coming months.
Keith Grose is among Plaid’s leading figures on the ground, having orchestrated the expansion into Europe and now serving as the UK Head. In an interview with Sifted, Grose — a Californian and former Google employee — says that the initial months of the expansion were no easy feat. “We knew it would be a challenge and, at times, that has certainly proven to be true… When we first arrived we struggled to get connected to local startups, find regulators to take meetings with us and recruit local employees,” he tells Sifted.