Nium looks to Payoneer for new Europe general manager

Real-time global payments company Nium has hired Manuel Sandhofer from Payoneer as its new SVP and general manager, Europe, as it seeks to scale across the region.

Nium intends to expand into Amsterdam later this year, opening an office in the city and hiring 50 new employees.

Nium’s Manuel Sandhofer

Sandhofer spent nearly a decade at UniCredit before co-founding Optile, a Munich-based tech company which streamlined payment acceptance processes for global merchants and was eventually acquired by Payoneer.

Following the acquisition, Sandhofer joined the firm in 2021 in an SVP sales and partners role and saw its transition from a private to public company.

“Despite a challenging macroeconomic environment in Europe, Nium is continuing to hire, sign new customers, expand its product suite, and enter new markets — and I can think of nobody better to spearhead this growth than Manuel,” said Prajit Nanu, Nium chief executive officer and founder.

“As we hire regional GMs across the globe, my goal is to find trusted talent that can act as an extension of myself. Manuel is just that; his experience as a founder brings a proven track record of scaling companies at speed, building and nurturing talented teams, and meeting the payments needs of global enterprise customers.”

Sandhofer said he has watched Nium “evolve from a disruptive market entrant into the real-time global payment platform of choice for businesses across Europe” over the past few years.

“Payments are no longer just the cost of doing business; they are a way to improve performance, create new products and services, and generate revenue.

“But we’ve only reached the tip of the iceberg when thinking about the opportunity for businesses in Europe, especially when applied to payroll, spend management, marketplace, and travel use cases,” he added.

Last week, Nium expanded the network and currency coverage of its global payroll payments solution in Canada, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia Pacific.