Ahead of its first European Perform user conference in London from June 4th – 5th, Planful has announced significant investment in Europe. Over the last year, Planful has grown its employee footprint in the region by over 50%, adding people in Germany, the UK, and Northern Europe.
Planful announced the appointment of Christoph Papenfuss, Regional Vice President for the DACH region. In January 2025, it appointed Alice Allegrini as Regional Vice President of UK & Ireland. These appointments expand the leadership team of Andy Bottrill, who was appointed in July 2024 and whom Enterprise Times spoke with earlier this year.
In 2024, Planful saw bookings rise by 43% and has over 200 customers in the region, including Grafton Plc, Gousto, Thule Inc., Wise, P&O Ferries, and Viking Cruises. Momentum was strong in Germany, and these appointments should help Planful maintain or even accelerate that growth in the coming months.
Andy Bottrill, Planful SVP, EMEA, said, “The strong demand that we are seeing across the whole EMEA region for Planful solutions bears out these challenges that organizations are facing, from navigating complex regulations, trade relations changes, and multi-currency operations to meeting ESG requirements and collaborating across decentralized teams.
“Our experienced leaders bring deep regional expertise and ensure that Planful is well-positioned to support these needs with speed, agility, and precision.”
Looking forward to Perform London
DACH is a key growth region for Planful. Already in 2025, it has been joined by Collective Ace, a gaming group based in Berlin, Germany, with a presence in over 15 countries. It is a one-stop service hub for gaming companies. It both acquires and works with gaming brands such as Ubisoft, EA and DECA.
Ralph Oellerich, the company’s Head of Finance, stated, “As Collective Ace grows across regions and studios, we needed a finance platform that could scale with us. Planful gives us the automation, flexibility, and visibility to manage complexity today while preparing for what’s next. It’s a solution that grows with our business.”
The London Perform conference will bring together professionals from customers, partners and Planful, across finance, accounting, marketing, and HR under the theme “You, Elevated.” Attendees will have the opportunity to listen to sessions led by leaders from organisations including Wise, Lyre’s Spirits Co, and GenCFO. The conference also gives the opportunity for hands-on training led by Planful and the opportunity to network with peers.
Who is Christoph Papenfuss
Papenfuss joined Agile Data Engine, where he was Area Vice President for Central EMEA. He was responsible for building out and then managing the Central EMEA business. It is a role that will have prepared him for similar responsibiilities at Planful.
Before that, he was a Regional Vice President at Salesforce and was responsible for managing the transportation & media segment related to Tableau Software.
He also held leadership roles at msg Global Solutions, OSISoft, IBM and Cognos. He began his career at KPMG, managing the development of a consulting practice in the US and Europe for a new solution space. Throughout his career, he has built successful teams, and Planful appears to have found the right candidate to help it grow its presence in the region.
Papenfuss holds an MSc from Universität Passau and is a chartered member of the Institute of Management Accountants. He currently sits on the trusted advisor board at Timeseer.AI, a time-series Data Operations (DataOps) software company.
Papenfuss commented on LinkedIn, “In early March, I joined Planful as Regional VP for DACH during a period of exceptional momentum and growth across Europe. We see incredible adoption in Germany — with companies like Collective Ace, sennder, Statista, ESL Gaming, and TMD Friction taking financial processes to new heights with Planful. We also onboarded our first DACH partner, pmOne Group, who brings a wealth of experience.”
pmOne group is clearly invested in Planful and has become a Silver sponsor of Perform25 London.
Who is Alice Allegrini?
Allegrini joined from Akeron, where she was Vice President of Sales EMEA North. She has over two decades of experience working in the Software and SaaS industry.
Allegrini was Regional Vice President at Anaplan. She is also no stranger to the FP&A sector, having been responsible for the business development of Prevero, the Unit4 FP&A solution in the UK and Ireland for three and a half years.
Before Unit4, she led sales teams at Tagetik UK. She began her career in the SAP ecosystem first at BGP Management Consulting before working as an Account Executive at SAP for five years. She graduated from the Università Bocconi with a degree in economics and management accounting.
Allegrini commented, “I’ve had the honour of stepping into the role of RVP for the UK & Ireland at Planful at a time when demand for agile, scalable finance solutions is growing fast. We’re expanding rapidly across the region, welcoming incredible customers and partners, and bringing hashtag#PlanfulPerform25 to London this June.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
Planful continues to expand both in North America and Europe. In Europe, Bottrill is creating an organisational infrastructure that will enable the company to scale its sales and marketing efforts with a leadership team that has the experience to help grow the company.
In North America, the company continues to expand and is holding its annual user conference Planful Perform25, in Miami from May 12 – 15. Expect some product announcements from here. While this first European conference is being held in London, it will be interesting to see whether it decides to hold its second in Germany in 2026. If it does so, it will show recognition of the growth in the region.
