Strava Appoints Gustav Gyllenhammar of Spotify to Board of Directors

Gyllenhammar brings operational expertise in global subscription services to the world's largest events and competition platform

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Strava

Dec 14, 2021, 09:00 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Strava, the subscription platform at the center of connected fitness, today announced the board appointment of Gustav Gyllenhammar, Spotify's Vice President, Markets and Subscriber Growth.

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 172¹ 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 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. His world-class experience will help the Strava subscription to bring joy to every phase of an athlete's day and life," said Michael Horvath, CEO, Strava.

That mission is connecting athletes to what motivates them and helping them find their personal best, no matter where they live or what sports they love.

"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," said Gyllenhammar, VP, Markets and Subscriber Growth, Spotify.

Prior to joining Spotify in 2013, Mr. Gyllenhammar was the GM and CEO of eBay Inc's Marketplaces business unit in Sweden, Tradera.com, and previously was a consultant with McKinsey & Co.

For more information on Strava or to start a free subscription trial visit www.strava.com.

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About Strava
Strava is the leading digital platform for athletes and the largest sports community in the world, with over 95 million athletes in 195 countries. If you sweat you're an athlete, and Strava's mobile apps and website connect millions of active people every day. Strava gives athletes simple, fun ways to stay motivated and compete against themselves and others without having to be in the same place at the same time. All athletes belong on Strava no matter where they live, which sport they love or what device they use. Join the community and make the most of your sport with a Strava subscription.

Our favorite stats:

More than 5 billion activities have been shared on Strava
Athletes in every country on earth
More than 2 million new athletes join per month
40 million activities uploaded per week
Over 30 million Segments
Over 2,200 professional athletes on Strava
300 employees around the world, with offices in San Francisco, CA, Denver, CO, Bristol, UK and Dublin, Ireland.
7.1 billion Kudos given between athletes last year
Over 4 million photos shared per week
Over 1,000 communities making commuting better with Strava Metro

Biography:
Gustav Gyllenhammar is Spotify's VP, Markets & Subscriber Growth. He oversees the company's international business, as well as the global functions responsible for growth, performance marketing and propositions. Mr. Gyllenhammar was previously Spotify's VP of Subscriptions and Senior Director of Growth. Prior to joining Spotify in 2013, Mr. Gyllenhammar was the GM and CEO of eBay Inc's Marketplaces business unit in Sweden, Tradera.com, and held management roles at Sony Ericsson and McKinsey. Mr. Gyllenhammar holds a Master of Science in Economics, Finance and International Business from the Stockholm School of Economics with a Major from Columbia Business School in New York.