🚀 Iterable doubles down on Lisbon as Europe expansion accelerates

Iterable, the U.S. martech unicorn known for its AI-powered customer engagement platform, is making Lisbon central to its European growth strategy, according to new CEO Sam Allen.

🗣 “I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t continue to invest in Lisbon,” says Allen, who plans to visit the hub this fall to celebrate its first anniversary.

The company currently employs around 25 people in Lisbon and aims to quadruple its team to 100 in the coming years, potentially scaling to 150–200 depending on business needs. And that team won’t be just engineers — Iterable plans to expand into sales, marketing, and business development roles in Portugal as well.

🧑‍💻 Why Lisbon?

“We’ve had great success. The tech talent is strong, and we’ve faced none of the constraints cited by others,” Allen noted, referring to criticism from Cloudflare’s CEO about Portugal’s bureaucracy.

“Lisbon is fertile ground for us.”

🧭 Europe: Iterable’s #1 priority

Allen, who previously led over 20 M&A deals at Salesforce, says Europe is his top strategic focus — and Lisbon will be key:

📍 “We can cover continental Europe from Lisbon and the UK from London — a dual hub strategy.”

📊 “The opportunity in EMEA is massive. It’s our #1 geographic priority.”

While the company is open to new locations if opportunities arise (Amsterdam was mentioned), Lisbon and London will remain its main European footholds for now.

🔍 M&A on the radar — but not the focus (yet)

Allen says the current focus is organic growth: aligning the team, deepening customer relationships, and expanding market share.

“Inorganic growth is on the radar. But my job in the first six months is to learn, unify, and grow.”

🤖 On AI, jobs, and leadership

As a former Marine, Allen brings a people-first, mission-driven leadership style:

“You earn trust. You lead from the front. And you make your people better.”

He's bullish on AI but realistic:

✨ “AI is not about replacing people — it's about making them better at their jobs.”

🧠 “Yes, roles will evolve, but new ones are emerging just as quickly — like prompt engineering.”