Soo Hong.
LOS ANGELES—Sunbit, a buy now, pay later (BNPL) technology company, has announced the appointment of Soo Hong as Sunbit's chief people officer (CPO), effective immediately. Hong, who led the People and Talent organizations at National Veterinary Associates, WeWork, and Tinder during periods of transformative growth, has overseen organizational expansion at scale, supporting company growth from hundreds to tens of thousands of employees, according to an announcement late last week. “In an environment where the competition for talent is fierce and career reassessments have spurred a ‘Great Resignation,’ a strong People organization is critical to a company's success,” the company noted.

“We're bringing something special to life, but we need to grow our team in order to reach as many Americans as possible," said Arad Levertov, chief executive and co-founder of Sunbit. "When I met Soo, I knew that she had what it takes to take our organization to the next level. Everything we do is in service to improving the lives of our team, our merchants, and our customers. Soo's service-oriented leadership philosophy aligns with our team's approach. I know that with Soo's help, we're going to be able to positively impact people's lives at scale."
 
Hong has been recognized nationally for her innovative work, being named one of Hot Topic's Tech HR100. She received the Tri-State National Diversity Council's Most Influential Woman of the Year award in 2016 for her work supporting diversity and women's leadership in the workplace and is a member of the National Human Resources Academy's Class of 2016. Most recently, her organizations have been recognized by Forbes as Best Mid-Sized Employer (2018) and Best Employers for Diversity (2019).
 
“I am in awe of Sunbit's employees and merchant partners who are so committed to inclusion, learning, and delivering value to our customers," Hong said. “I'm honored and grateful for the opportunity to work with the team to ensure that Sunbit has the right people working on the right things at the right time so that everyone can succeed.”
 
In a separate announcement, Sunbit reported that 2021 marked “a significant phase in the company’s growth trajectory,” with two-times, year-over-year growth in transaction volume. At the end of 2021, Sunbit was available in more than 10,000 locations, adding nearly double the amount of locations it achieved in the past five years, the announcement noted.
 
In 2021, Sunbit said it made “major headway in health care with nearly 3,500 optical and dental practices now offering its BNPL solution.”
 
In optical, Sunbit signed more than 1,100 new optical locations last year, including deals with Eyemart Express, with its 200-plus retail locations, Now Optics, with its more than 200 retail locations, and with Acquios Alliance, an optical member alliance supporting independent optometry practices, to bring BNPL to its 330-plus members. Additionally, the company formed a partnership with Nikon, bringing BNPL to Nikon lens wearers.