# Malte Rau

> Malte Rau is the Berlin-based CEO and co-founder of Pliant, a B2B fintech that lets companies and banks issue physical and virtual credit cards and plug the resulting data straight into their finance stacks. A former risk manager and fintech investor, he founded Pliant in February 2020 with Fabian Terner and has grown it into a modular, API-first card-issuing platform serving thousands of European businesses. In April 2025 the company closed a $40 million Series B led by Illuminate Financial and Speedinvest to fund its expansion into the United States.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-Founder at Pliant
- **Organizations:** Pliant, Geldspeicher GmbH, FinCompare, Global Growth Cap, Rocket Internet, Lendico, auxmoney, zeb consulting, KPMG
- **From:** Berlin, Germany
- **Nationality:** German
- **Education:** B.Sc. in Management and Economics, Ruhr-Universitat Bochum
- **Known for:** Co-founded and scaled Pliant into an API-first corporate card platform serving around 3,500 businesses across Europe, Raised more than $100 million in total equity plus significant debt facilities for Pliant, Led Pliant's $40 million Series B in April 2025 backed by Illuminate Financial, Speedinvest, PayPal Ventures and Motive Ventures

## Career timeline

- **2010** — Began career at KPMG as a risk management consultant focused on the banking sector after the financial crisis
- **2011** — Moved into fintech lending, holding roles at auxmoney and Lendico Global Services
- **2014** — Worked on strategic projects at zeb consulting and portfolio management as Head of Fintech Investments at Global Growth Cap
- **2016** — Helped build a venture debt fund at Rocket Internet to refinance fintech lenders
- **2018** — Served as interim Chief Risk Officer at FinCompare
- **2019** — Founded and ran Geldspeicher GmbH, his first venture, focused on open-banking risk data
- **2020** — Co-founded Pliant with Fabian Terner in February, launching a B2B card-issuing platform amid the COVID-19 lockdown
- **2025** — Closed a $40M Series B led by Illuminate Financial and Speedinvest to expand Pliant into the US

## Achievements

- Co-founded and scaled Pliant into an API-first corporate card platform serving around 3,500 businesses across Europe
- Raised more than $100 million in total equity plus significant debt facilities for Pliant
- Led Pliant's $40 million Series B in April 2025 backed by Illuminate Financial, Speedinvest, PayPal Ventures and Motive Ventures
- Rebuilt the company after its initial issuing partner collapsed in the Wirecard fraud scandal
- Grew the team past 200 employees while delivering triple-digit revenue growth

## Latest updates

- **2025-04** — Pliant closed a $40 million Series B led by Illuminate Financial and Speedinvest, with PayPal Ventures and Motive Ventures participating, to fund US expansion and grow the team beyond 200 people.
- **2026-03** — Featured in coverage on Pliant's readiness to take on the US market.

## Links

- Website: https://getpliant.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/malterau

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/malte-rau
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-15