Stenn, the leading digital financing platform for global SMEs, is pleased to announce the appointment of Bilal Bajwa to the new position of Chief Product Officer as the business continues to scale and enhance its unique proposition. 

Bilal has a proven track record of leading global teams and scaling data-led platforms, bringing significant experience from a range of senior roles in technology start-ups, particularly in the US and emerging markets, where he has focused on product development and design. 

He has previously held roles at Zynga, the Silicon Valley-based social gaming platform, and drizzle, the UAE online marketplace, where he led a team of 120 people in product, engineering, design, growth, and performance marketing. Bilal was also the CEO of OLX Pakistan, an online marketplace in which he grew to 10 million monthly average users over just four years.  

Bilal’s appointment comes at a pivotal time for Stenn as the business expands its technology-led, data-driven proposition for global SMEs who need simple and quick financing to support their growth ambitions. The business sees multiple opportunities to further improve its customer-centric offer with new financing solutions which will help to bridge the significant SME funding gap. 

Stenn’s growth has accelerated rapidly in 2022 and it has financed more than $2bn USD worth of invoices in the year to date. It was named in the prestigious FT1000 list as the 8th fastest-growing business in the fintech category and last month hit $7bn (USD) in total invoices financed. In April this year, Stenn received a $50 million (USD) equity investment from Centerbridge Partners at a $900 million (USD) valuation. 

Greg Karpovsky, Founder and CEO of Stenn, said: “It’s fantastic to have Bilal join the team as we continue in our mission to level the playing field for global SMEs. He brings invaluable experience, across some key geographies, and his focus on market research and data analytics to inform the expansion of our product offering will be crucial as we improve Stenn’s customer proposition. Bilal’s appointment is the latest in a big drive to bring new talent into Stenn as we maintain our strong growth trajectory.” 

Bilal Bajwa commented: “Stenn is solving problems of a huge magnitude and I have been impressed by the impact it is having on SMEs in emerging markets. I’m delighted to be joining the team at such an exciting time in its evolution when there is a clear ambition to further understand the needs of its customer base and scale the product offering in new markets and new industries. There is an exciting challenge ahead and I look forward to being part of the next chapter.”

SMEs globally are being held back by a lack of access to financing worth $3.6 trillion today and are forecast to rise to $6.1 trillion within the next three years. Where the traditional financial system is failing, Stenn is helping to plug this enormous gap by connecting these businesses with low-cost institutional capital.