Founded in Copenhagen in 2015, Pleo is one of Europe’s leading spend management solutions, supporting nearly 40,000 businesses and billions of Euros in purchases each year. With offices across Europe and in Chennai, the company has grown rapidly and is making a concerted effort to integrate environmental sustainability into its operations.
To expand its sustainability work, the company partnered with Persefoni in 2024 to conduct its first carbon footprint calculation, a milestone that would lay the foundation for greater transparency, compliance, and integration of sustainability into business strategy.
Challenge: Building a Scalable, Compliant Foundation
As Pleo’s sustainability team began shaping its climate strategy, it faced two pressing needs. First, the company wanted to create an actionable roadmap for reducing emissions that could evolve with the business as it scaled. Second, it wanted to stay ahead of regulatory requirements like the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) while addressing growing expectations from customers and investors for transparent emissions data.
The challenge was clear: data collection was complex, scattered across different departments and systems, with limited access to supply chain information. Pleo needed a carbon accounting solution that was flexible enough to meet them where they were—starting with spend-based data, while providing audit-ready traceability and reducing the administrative burden on a lean sustainability team.
Solution: Partnering With Persefoni for Transparency and Scale
As they researched different software offerings, Pleo’s team gained a deeper understanding of the science behind emissions estimates. The more they learned, the clearer it became that they needed a platform capable of scaling with them as their data needs changed. They also wanted a solution that would generate decision-useful insights to drive progress on their sustainability goals. Transparency and traceability were another high priority. The team knew that robust controls and audit trails would be crucial for upcoming regulations.
Persefoni checked these boxes and more. Its accurate, consistent methodology for emissions estimates stood out, as did its commitment to transparency and audit trails. They were also impressed by Persefoni’s Sustainability Advisory Board, which includes climate disclosure experts like Kirsten Lopatta, who shaped the first set of European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRSs).
Equally important was the customer support. Persefoni offered a dedicated account manager and climate solutions expert, who added technical knowledge and capacity to Pleo’s lean sustainability team.
Pleo took a phased approach to implementation. They began with a trial run covering July through October 2024, allowing different teams to get comfortable with the process while uploading a manageable set of data. This approach gave contributors, from finance and operations to engineering and workplace functions, the chance to collaborate on carbon accounting before expanding to the full year’s dataset.
Accomplishments
By the start of 2025, Pleo had successfully calculated its Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions for 2024 and created their first-ever carbon footprint report. The process gave the company more than a compliance tool: it delivered a comprehensive view of Pleo’s climate impact and a foundation for better business decisions.
With Persefoni, data collection became streamlined and more reliable. Teams across the company, from engineering gathering cloud provider data to operations working with suppliers, could contribute seamlessly, while the sustainability team validated data against accounting standards. The result was actionable insights that now inform Pleo’s decarbonization strategy and investor communications.
What’s Next
With its first footprint complete, Pleo is now focused on improving data quality and expanding granularity. Immediate priorities include refining business travel categories and deepening supplier engagement to unlock more accurate Scope 3 data.
As the company continues to enhance its carbon accounting, it also plans to share sustainability insights with customers, helping them meet their own decarbonization goals and strengthening Pleo’s role as both a financial and sustainability partner.
🎵 If This Customer Story Had a Theme Song?
“Better Together” by Jack Johnson — a fitting choice for a company proving that meaningful decarbonization happens when people, data, and purpose work in harmony.
Partnership Publications
.webp)
