Navan Names Amy Butte to Board of Directors as Audit Committee Chair
Butte brings to the Board extensive experience in guiding innovative companies through major growth stages
PALO ALTO, April 23, 2024 — Navan, the all-in-one super app that makes travel and expense easy, today announced the appointment of Amy Butte to the company’s board of directors as Audit Committee Chair, effective immediately. A respected advisor and financial leader to startups, growth companies, and enterprises, Butte is adept at fueling growth, enhancing transparency, and providing strategic advice from an entrepreneur’s perspective.
Butte brings a wealth of experience helping companies transition to their next stage of growth, having spearheaded two major financial services’ IPOs as CFO, including the transition of the New York Stock Exchange to a public company in 2006, as well as global travel supply distribution service Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR). Previously, she was an equity Research Analyst at Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch. Her professional career extends to several high-profile board positions, including Fidelity Strategic Advisers Funds, BNP Paribas USA, DigitalOcean, and Bain Capital Specialty Finance.
“I could not be happier to welcome Amy to the Navan board. Few can match Amy's hands-on experience guiding innovative companies through pivotal moments,” says Navan co-founder and CEO Ariel Cohen. “Amy’s deep-seated knowledge of the travel and financial spaces make her the ideal addition as Navan revolutionizes travel and expense management globally.”
Butte’s appointment coincides with the return of Rich Liu (formerly Navan CRO) as CEO of Navan Travel, and follows several years of fast growth across Navan’s travel and expense offerings, recording a nearly 5x increase in revenue from 2021–2023. Navan’s tactical global expansion strategy resulted in five acquisitions across the UK, Nordics, DACH, Spain, and India over the past two years.
Recent product innovations include:
Navan’s automated virtual assistant, Ava, with which Navan became the first travel company to leverage generative AI across its product set. Those efforts earned the company a spot on Fast Company’s 2024 Most Innovative Companies in the Applied AI category.
Navan Connect, an innovative card-link technology that enables finance leaders to access Navan Expense’s real-time spend visibility, powerful policy controls, and automated reconciliation — all while maintaining their company's current card benefits.
An industry-first connected travel & expense joint solution designed for Citi, the third-largest bank in the U.S., leveraging the technology of Navan Connect.
“There’s nothing I enjoy more than working with innovative companies powered by smart people,” says Butte. “When I met Ariel, it just clicked. Navan’s tech-first approach to integrating T&E into companies' existing tech stack, creating efficiencies across front- and back-office teams, is addressing a massive need in the market. I'm so pleased to join Navan to help shape its next chapter.”
Butte joins Navan Board Members Ben Horowitz of Andreessen Horowitz, Oren Zeev of Zeev Ventures, Arif Janmohammed of Lightspeed Ventures, Clara Liang, Sandesh Patnam, and Ariel Cohen and Ilan Twig of Navan. Observers include Adam Bain of 01Advisors.
About Navan
Navan is the all-in-one super app that makes travel and expense easy so you can focus on being there, not getting there. Say goodbye to spending hours on the phone trying to change your flight or saving stacks of receipts to manually input expenses. From EAs and finance teams to travel managers and employees, Navan empowers people to concentrate on the things that matter most to them — all while providing companies with real-time visibility, savings, and control. Learn more at navan.com
