Navan Names Stripe Executive Clara Liang to Board of Directors
Liang brings a wealth of product experience across SaaS, travel, and finance sectors
PALO ALTO, November 17, 2022 — Navan, the all-in-one travel, corporate card, and expense management solution, today announced the appointment of Clara Liang to the company’s board of directors, effective immediately. A seasoned product leader with experience across the travel and financial sectors, Liang has held senior leadership roles across both consumer and enterprise companies.
Liang joins Navan Board Members Ben Horowitz of Andreessen Horowitz, Oren Zeev of Zeev Ventures, Arif Janmohammed of Lightspeed Ventures, Sandesh Patnam, and Ariel Cohen and Ilan Twig of Navan. Observers include Adam Bain of 01Advisors, Dan Rose of Coatue, and Neil Mehta of Greenoaks.
“We are thrilled to welcome Clara to the Navan Board of Directors,” says Navan co-founder and CEO, Ariel Cohen. “From my experience working with her at Jive, I know Clara’s background in creating transformative products and experiences will be extremely valuable as Navan continues to raise the bar across travel and expense management.”
As the Head of Link at Stripe, a financial infrastructure platform, Liang drives product and service innovation across several business segments. Prior to Stripe, Liang served as Vice President and General Manager at Airbnb (NASDAQ: ABNB), where she led international teams, luxury travel, and professional hosting — including the acquisitions of HotelTonight and Urbandoor. She was also the Chief Product Officer for Jive Software and spent 11 years at IBM in a number of senior development and design roles.
Since October 2019, Liang has been a member of the board of directors at SoFi (NASDAQ: SOFI). She holds a Bachelor’s in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University and a Master’s in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas, Austin.
Following its recent Series G up-round, which valued the company at $9.2B and its fourth Europe-based acquisition in 18 months, the appointment of Liang to the Board adds to Navan’s momentum as the company’s user-first, modern approach to simplifying travel and expense management continues to resonate with global businesses.
Navan’s scalable solution has earned customers that range from startups like Carta, Loom, Notion, and Databricks, to enterprise companies such as Unilever, Adobe, Heineken, and Thomson Reuters that are looking to gain real-time visibility and control as businesses increase travel to strengthen relationships with customers and employees.
“I was drawn to Navan’s mission to make travel easier for every business traveler. Their impressive growth over the last two years is a testament to the team’s relentless commitment to innovation and its customers,” says Liang. “I’ve long admired Ariel and Ilan’s expertise as builders and their dedication to building a company with a goal of revolutionizing travel and expense management. I am excited to go on this journey and look forward to working with the rest of the Board.”
About Navan
Navan is the all-in-one travel, corporate card, and expense management solution, providing customers around the globe with unprecedented visibility and control over spend. Trusted by travel managers and finance teams alike, Navan and Navan Expense leverage real-time data to help companies keep traveling employees safe, reduce spend, and drive productivity. Learn more at www.navan.com.
