LONDON, July 08, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Payhawk, the AI-native spend management platform, has surpassed $100M ARR to reach Centaur status, joining the roughly 250 private software companies worldwide to hit the milestone, a club that Bessemer Venture Partners estimates is around seven times rarer than the $1bn “unicorn.”
Over the past 24 months, Payhawk has rebuilt both its products and operations around autonomous AI agents, and its growth has accelerated as a result, turning $100M ARR into a proof point not just for its software, but for how an AI-native company is run.
“When we started Payhawk in 2018, we set out to fix how companies spend money: a problem we thought was worth $1B, and now believe is a $1T+ opportunity. In Q4 this year, we expect that one in every 500 commercial card payments in Europe will be made with a Payhawk card. And we’ve gone far beyond company cards, into paying suppliers, accounts payable, booking travel and simplifying procure-to-pay. Crossing $100M ARR is proof that a category-defining, AI-native finance platform can be built in Europe, and scaled to the world from here,” said Hristo Borisov, co-founder & CEO at Payhawk.
An AI-native company, not just an AI product
That performance has been powered by an AI-native overhaul of the business itself. ARR per full time employee (FTE) is up 75% year on year to roughly $238K, as AI takes on real work across the company: 76% of support requests are now fully resolved by AI, the sales team is generating 159% more net-new business with a 10% smaller headcount, and product and engineering are shipping 57% more features at lower regression rates.
“What I’m proudest of is how efficiently we got here. We’ve turned roughly $120M of net cash burned since founding into $100M of ARR – a lifetime burn multiple of about 1.2x – while deploying only about half the capital we’ve raised. AI now does real work across the company, and it’s the engine behind our growth,” added Borisov.
Strong drive in operational efficiency
- 1 out of 500 commercial card payments in Europe will be with a Payhawk card by Q4
- ARR per FTE reaching $238,000 which is 75% improvement YoY
- Total payments volume growing at 95% YoY through the platform
- New business growing 159% YoY with 10% smaller sales team
- Burned $120M to date and turned it into $100M ARR due to strong European talent
Customer adoption and new AI-native products
Total payments volume is growing 95% YoY as the company expects to manage one in every 500 business card payments in Europe by the end of the year. A major driver has been Payhawk’s new AI-native product lines, including its Travel Agent and Financial Controller Agent, which autonomously book travel and gather invoices from vendor websites on employees’ behalf. Payhawk today serves some of the fastest growing European businesses, including Flatpay, Aikido, Apollo AI, Vox AI, and Nscale.
Building the future of spend
“We are extremely excited about what is coming next. The combination of AI, payment infrastructure and enterprise-grade systems is creating a perfect storm for innovation. How businesses spend and manage money today will be significantly different over the next five years. Our goal is to help a business of 500 employees run with only two people in finance, and we are obsessed with making this a reality for any business in the world,” said Hristo Borisov.
ABOUT PAYHAWK
Payhawk is an AI-native spend management platform that orchestrates global money across Bills, Cards, Expenses, Travel, and Procurement for maximum control, automation and savings. It provides a global money account on top of your ERP combined with agents enforcing rules, policies, and budgets on every payment while giving employees an effortless spending experience. Headquartered in London with offices across Europe and the US, Payhawk serves mid-market and enterprise companies in 33 countries.
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