John McLane is chief executive of Plooto, the Toronto, Ontario, company that automates bill payments and collections for small businesses and accounting firms. A payments operator who came from Trustly, he took over in September 2024, after a year in which the company lost its founding chief executive and a quarter of its staff.
From Trustly to Plooto
He was chief operating officer for the Americas at Trustly, the Swedish payments company, and has more than 20 years in enterprise software across private equity, finance, strategy and operations.
Taking Over After a Hard Year
Plooto was founded in 2015 by Hamed Abbasi and Serguei Kloubkov. Its software connects to accounting systems such as QuickBooks, Xero and NetSuite to automate payables and receivables. Abbasi stepped down in March 2024, and in April the company cut about 25% of its workforce. Kloubkov and Wajdi Ghoussoub ran it as interim co-chief executives until McLane arrived on 24 September. Board chair Albert Wahbe praised his "great business acumen and proven track record of leading thriving technology companies."
His stated aim is to make Plooto "the undisputed best-in-class payment automation solution for small-to-midsize finance teams and accounting firms." "I'm motivated to take us to the next level both in terms of the number of businesses we support and delivering the best solution we can to them," he has said.
Growth Under His Leadership
A month after he arrived, Plooto launched Pay by Card with Visa, letting businesses pay bills by credit card to earn rewards and stretch cash flow. In 2025 it ranked 233rd on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 with 348% revenue growth, and it says more than 14,000 businesses now use it, up from about 10,000 when he joined.
He inherited a company with 120 people and a recent round of departures. Two years on, he runs a growing business built on the founders' idea, helping small companies get paid and pay their bills without the paperwork.
