Welcome to our founder lessons series. Today, Andrew Alex, founder and CEO of Spendbase (backed by Google) shared how his team are helping businesses cut corporate expenses through SaaS and cloud cost optimization. Spendbase delivers real-time visibility, automation, and measurable savings, helping companies reduce costs by up to $1M annually.
A brief summary of your startup
Spendbase is an all-in-one spend management platform that helps companies take full control of their SaaS, cloud, and corporate spending. We started with one simple idea: businesses shouldn’t need ten tools or spreadsheets to understand where their money is going.
Today, Spendbase gives finance and operations teams the visibility and automation they need to optimize costs and eliminate waste. We help companies track software usage, manage renewals, and negotiate better vendor deals. On top of that, this year we’ve expanded into digital banking and virtual corporate cards, giving our users a unified way to manage subscriptions, cloud bills, and payments in one place.
The platform now supports over 800 businesses worldwide, including Preply, Lemon.io, MacPaw, Provectus, Happy Monday, and YouScan, with some mid-sized clients saving up to $150k in under a year. Our team of 100+ people works across Europe, the UK, Latin America, and the US. We’re proudly bootstrapped while also supported by Google for Startups, Mastercard, and the EU’s “Seeds of Bravery” program.
Why and how did you start your company
The idea for Spendbase was born out of a very relatable pain point: companies simply had no clear picture of how much they were really spending on software.
The spark came when a friend of mine casually mentioned he still had access to a company-paid license worth $3,000, two years after leaving his job! At another company I knew, ten licenses of a $10,000 tool were being paid for, but only one person was actually using it. And in one particularly painful case, a marketer’s subscription was canceled after they left, and four years of critical marketing data disappeared overnight.
It became obvious that most companies were managing their SaaS and tech stacks in spreadsheets. This approach was time-consuming, error-prone, and left no clear view of what was being used or wasted.
We founded Spendbase in early 2023 to fix that. Our mission was simple: help companies optimize software costs and usage. What started as a tool to centralize and visualize SaaS spend has grown into a full platform. We help businesses track license usage, manage renewals, eliminate wasted costs, benchmark prices, negotiate with vendors, and even implement procurement workflows to prevent overspending before it happens.
Digital banking was a natural extension of our platform. It gives customers even more control over their spending. Now, Spendbase users can issue corporate IBANs across the EU and UK, make fast bank transfers via SEPA and Faster Payments, and manage sub-accounts and spend limits for teams, individuals, or projects. Users can also issue up to 100 virtual cards, with up to 1.5% cashback, 3DS security, and other granular spend controls.
What has been your biggest success factors
I believe our success comes down to three key factors: growth focus, efficiency, and customer relations.
First, growth focus. From the very beginning, we concentrated on a single, measurable pain point: overspending. This focus has guided every product decision and allowed us to build a solution that delivers clear, quantifiable ROI for our customers.
Efficiency. We’ve operated with capital discipline and efficiency from day one. Even with access to grant funding, we’ve prioritized sustainable growth and smart resource allocation over vanity metrics.
Finally, customer relationships. Spendbase’s business model is built around a simple promise: for every dollar you invest in us, we deliver two in savings. This unique, savings-based pricing aligns our incentives with our customers’ success and helps build lasting, mutually beneficial relationships.
Recognition has also validated our approach: being featured in the Sifted 250 list of Europe’s most promising startups and among Forbes Ukraine’s top 25 startups are milestones we’re proud of. But more importantly, they reflect the impact we’re having on real businesses. When customers tell us we’ve helped them save 20% of their annual software costs or simplified their finance workflows, that’s the real success.
What are the biggest challenges you have faced launching and running the company
Originating from Ukraine, we officially launched Spendbase just three weeks before Russia’s full-scale invasion. At that moment, we had just completed our MVP and assembled our first team and overnight, everything changed. Operations were disrupted, team members had to relocate across Europe and North America, and we essentially had to rebuild the company from scratch. That experience taught us resilience, the importance of diversification, and proactive planning when facing political uncertainty.
From a day-to-day perspective, FinTech is inherently demanding. Handling corporate finances requires absolute trust, security, and compliance. Early on, we invested heavily in building secure, reliable infrastructure, even when it slowed growth.
Another challenge was building trust in a crowded market. The FinTech and spend management space is full of big names. But instead of competing on buzzwords, we focused on outcomes – tangible savings, clean design, and excellent service. Once customers saw the results, they stayed.
Which do you think is most important: the right market, the right product, or the right team?
All three matter, but the team is the foundation. Markets shift and products evolve, but a strong, adaptable team can find the right market and build the right product. A strong team isn’t just about skill, it’s about mindset. You need people who are hungry to learn, comfortable with uncertainty, and willing to challenge ideas.
At Spendbase, we’ve built a culture where everyone takes ownership. Our engineers talk directly to customers, our designers understand business metrics, and our leadership team stays deeply involved in product development.
Final words for those chasing the startup dream
My biggest advice would be this: fall in love with the problem, not the solution.
When we started Spendbase, we didn’t set out to build “another SaaS tool.” We started because we saw a problem – companies losing thousands to invisible spending – and we couldn’t stop thinking about how to fix it. That obsession with the problem is what got us through the early challenges, product pivots, and long nights.
Also, build relationships before you need them. Investors, mentors, and partners are more likely to help if you’ve built genuine connections early on.
And finally, be disciplined with your resources. Startups often fail not because the idea was bad, but because they ran out of time or focus. Stay lean, keep your priorities clear, and make sure every decision ties back to real customer value.
