Strava has announced the board appointment of Gustav Gyllenhammar, Spotify’s Vice President, Markets & Subscriber Growth.
Prior to joining Spotify in 2013, Gyllenhammar was the GM and CEO of eBay’s Marketplaces business unit in Sweden, Tradera.com, and previously was a consultant with McKinsey & Co.
A release from Strava noted… ‘Gyllenhammar brings significant global operational experience to Strava’s board. In his role at Spotify, he oversees the company’s international business, as well as the global functions responsible for growth, performance marketing and propositions.
‘In his time at Spotify, the company’s global subscriber base has grown from 5 million to 172 million and Gustav has overseen successful internationalization efforts to introduceSpotify into new, key global markets.’
This appointment comes at an important inflection point for Strava, the leading subscription service for athletes, and its rapidly-growing community of over 95 million athletes, which continues to grow by two million athletes per month.
Founded in 2009 by Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey, the company has hired over 100 new employees in the year to date and is… ‘ensuring its board is structured with highly skilled and strategic business leaders that will continue to increase the value of its service to athletes while accelerating the growth of Strava’s global community.’
Strava has released over 80 new features and updates to its free and subscription offerings so far this year, including routing and mapping innovations, group challenges, improved privacy controls, and partner integrations.
“Gustav is a proven leader in building, scaling valuable subscription services globally” said Michael Horvath, CEO, Strava. “His world-class experience will help the Strava subscription to bring joy to every phase of an athlete’s day and life.”
Gustav Gyllenhammar said “Strava’s dedication to its subscribers and its tremendous growth in new markets around the world is impressive. I’ve also experienced, on a personal level, how being a member of the Strava community has motivated and improved my own running performance.
“I’m thrilled to join Strava’s board of directors and contribute to the evolution of the leading subscription service for athletes.”
