In an effort to support Ukrainians fleeing the conflict, Incharge, a company built using Intergiro’s Banking as a Service solution “Intergiro.3d”, has created a banking services app specifically for refugees. The app will offer free banking services and physical or virtual debit cards to all Ukrainian nationals fleeing the country following the Russian invasion. The app was released exactly one month after the invasion began, which has now resulted in over 3.7 million people seeking refuge in bordering countries, with limited possessions and documentation. These refugees who require access to banking and financial services to buy essential goods, pay bills,…

Lunar, Nordic-based fintech company focused on the future of money for consumers and businesses, announced a €70 million Series D-2 funding round. It brings the Series D total to €280 million. Existing investors participated in the funding round following on the heels of last year’s Series D led by Heartland alongside Kinnevik, Tencent and IDC Ventures. Ken Villum Klausen, founder and CEO of Lunar, said: “We are grateful for the dedication and trust our investors have in Lunar and we will continue to invest in new ways to give more power to consumers and businesses. The new funding will enable…

Revolut, a global financial super-app with more than 18 million customers worldwide, has operationalized its Lithuania based European specialised banking licence in 10 European markets. Customers in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden who upgrade to Revolut Bank for additional services will now have their deposits protected under the deposit guarantee scheme. Deposit protection up to EUR 100,000 is guaranteed by the Lithuanian State company Deposit and Investment Insurance. Customers in the aforementioned countries are now able to upgrade to Revolut Bank from within the app. The upgrade process will only take customers a mere few…

Denmark-based B2B spend management service Pleo has raised US$200 million in a Series C extension round. It now brings the company’s total Series C round to US$350 million. The round was raised at a valuation of US$4.7 billion, according to an announcement by Pleo. The company’s total funding now stands at US$427.5 million. The Series C extension was led by Coatue Management, with participation from Alkeon Capital, as well as Stripes, Kinnevik, Creandum, Founders and Seedcamp. Funding will be used to expand across 15 new European markets, including Finland, Austria, Portugal, Netherlands and France. The company is also looking to…

European Card-as-a-Service (CaaS) platform Enfuce has raised EUR45 million in a Series C round. The round was led by growth investor Vitruvian Partners, with participation from Tencent, a statement from the company said. The funding will be used to drive global growth and boost the development of the company’s technology platform. The 2016-founded card issuing platform has more than 13 million active card users, with Enfuce processing nearly EUR 1 billion in transactions annually. More recently, the company expanded its presence to Germany and France as well. Enfuce claims to be the first fintech company in Europe to run a card issuing…

The fintech industry in the Nordic region, which comprises Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, saw strong funding growth in 2021 with record deal amounts. Out of the ten biggest funding rounds announced this year, Sweden leads the chart with seven deals, followed by Denmark with two and Finland with one. Sweden’s buy now, pay later (BNPL) giant Klarna closed the two largest rounds but neobanking was the most represented fintech segment with big sums going towards the likes of Lunar and Northmill Bank. Other categories were also represented as well including financial management and insurtech. Klarna – US$1 billion…

Mastercard announced it has completed its acquisition of Aiia, a Danish open banking technology provider that offers single and secure API access to banks and fintech companies, and enables users to easily perform account-to-account payments. Details of the deal which was announced in September was not disclosed. The acquisition of Aiia is said to further advance Mastercard’s existing distribution channels, technology, data practices and global multi-rail and open banking strategy. Aiia’s open banking platforms and infrastructure – including its strong API connectivity to over 2,700 banks across Europe – enables Mastercard to continue to build applications through a developer-first approach for a…

Trustly, a global payments platform for digital account-to-account transactions, has announced a partnership with IKEA. Through the partnership, Trustly will enable IKEA’s shoppers to pay for their purchases directly from their online bank account. The collaboration also equips IKEA with a partner for future growth into additional markets as Trustly offers access to more than 30 countries through a single API integration. The partnership has initially rolled out in Austria and will extend to several other European countries in the coming months. Trustly’s global offering supports high transaction values, ensures settlement of payments, and simplifies reconciliation, addressing some of IKEA’s…

Saldo Finance, a subsidiary of Finnish Saldo Finance Plc, has been granted European Central Bank’s (ECB) specialised banking license in Lithuania. ECB’s specialised banking license will make it possible for Saldo to accept deposits, grant loans and provide funds transfer and other usual banking services with the exception of investment services. With the business volume multiplying, Saldo will be able to expand its product portfolio into other financing products. The company entered the Lithuanian market in March 2021 where Saldo started its operations by offering consumer loans and will next bring different financing solutions for SMEs. Established in 2006, Saldo…

Sweden’s credentials in sustainability and Stockholm’s vibrant fintech ecosystem are converging into a flourishing green fintech market where players are gaining traction and starting to expand globally. This booming sector is highlighted in the 2021 edition of the yearly Stockholm Fintech Guide, which depicts the state of fintech in Sweden’s capital city, outlining the key trends observed over the past year and the “next wave of fintech” innovation that’s emerging. Green fintech was highlighted as one of these growing sectors, a market that has emerged on the back of Sweden’s position as an environmental pioneer, and Stockholm’s rise into a hotspot for…

Danish neobank Lunar announced that it has acquired Paylike, a full-stack European payment platform for an undisclosed sum. With this move, Lunar gains a gateway that will make it possible for its business customers to receive payments from their clients without having to use an intermediary. The addition of Paylike will bolster Lunar’s existing business banking offering to meet the needs of its growing customer base. Lunar made the acquisition following its €210 million Series D funding round led by Heartland which was joined by investors including Kinnevik and Tencent. On top of the acquisition of Paylike, Lunar has also…

Juni, a Swedish-based banking platform for e-commerce and online marketing companies, has secured US$52 million in funding led by EQT Ventures, to add to the US$21 million already raised from their Series-A round in late June this year. This boosts Juni’s Series A round to US$73 million and takes the total funding to date to US$76 million. EQT Ventures joins Partners of DST Global, Felix Capital, FJ labs and Cherry Ventures in backing Juni. The company will use the funds to triple the number of its employees by recruiting 120 more employees in the next 12 months to build their…

Anyfin, the Stockholm based startup that enables consumers to refinance existing loans and take control of their financial health, announced that it has secured US$52 million of fresh funding, bringing the total equity capital raised by the firm to US$101 million. The funding round was led by New York-based investor Fintech Collective joined by existing investors Accel, EQT Ventures, Northzone, and Global Founders Capital (GFC). Two new investors joined the fundraise including  Quadrille Capital in France, and Augmentum FinTech in the UK. In addition, the company has raised over US$500 million of debt capital from a diverse group of undisclosed…

Minna Technologies, a Sweden-based subscription management tool for retail banks, announced that it is launching a London-based hub. This move comes on the heels of a recent partnership with London-based open banking platform Bud. As part of the commitment to the market, Minna is also announcing strategic hires including the appointment of Mike Davies as Chief Commercial Officer, the appointment of Steve Hoy as Head of Strategic Partnerships and the transfer of Minna’s Chief Financial Officer Navpreet Randhawa, from Sweden to London. Mike has been working in the payment industry for the majority of the last 20 years with senior…

Nordic neo insurer Hedvig announces that it closed a US$45 million Series B funding round led by Anthemis following its recent launch into Denmark. The Series B investment was led by Anthemis Partner, Ruth Foxe Blader, and Managing Director, Matthew Jones. Blader previously led AllianzX’s investment into US insurer, Lemonade. Matthew Jones, Managing Director at Anthemis will also be joining the Hedvig Board of Directors. The round also saw participation from existing investors Cherry Ventures, Obvious Ventures, CommerzVentures, along with Swedish Novax, Nineyards Equity, Jonas Kamprad and Mathias Kamprad. With this new round of funding, Hedvig is accelerating its European…

Mastercard has revealed the 15 tech startups that will be joining the fall edition of its Lighthouse FINITIV programme from Sweden, Estonia and Finland. This fall, the programme kick off in Stockholm, Helsinki and Tallinn while utilising the benefits of a hybrid setup between physical and digital interactions. Mastercard launched Lighthouse FINITIV programme to build lasting partnerships with the goal of strengthening the financial ecosystem in the Nordic and Baltic regions. In 2020, Lighthouse expanded to a second programme, MASSIV, which focuses on scaling impact technology startups globally. Six of the selected companies are startups that are founded or led…

Ageras Group, a group of companies backed by Investcorp Technology Partners (ITP) that offers a range of software solutions to small businesses, announced that it has acquired Zervant, a Finland-based online invoicing software. The group is known for their online marketplace Ageras.com, helping business owners save time and money by comparing quotes from qualified accountants, Meanwhile, Zervant was founded in 2010, and after rapid expansion across Europe, has grown to more than 700,000 registered users who use the software to run their business by issuing invoices, tracking payments and getting paid faster in an intuitive interface. Ageras Group has recently…

Ingka Investments, the investment arm of Ingka Group which owns and operates IKEA stores, has invested US$22.5 million in US-based Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) firm Jifiti, for a minority stake in the company. Ingka Group and Jifiti have a long-standing commercial partnership with the latter acting as a facilitator of IKEA Retail’s and consumer financing services. IKEA, with their local banking partners in Spain, France, Portugal and Belgium have already been offering financing in their stores via the Jifiti platform since 2019 and are now rolling out into other countries. The aim is to have the Jifiti platform facilitate…

Stockholm-based fintech company Invoier, who has built and established a marketplace for fair and transparent trading of invoices, has secured a EUR 4.1 million equity funding from the European Innovation Council’s (EIC) Fund. Invoier’s marketplace enables SMEs to convert invoices into working capital. The marketplace is built on a unique AI-based risk assessment method, making it possible for professional investors to enter a new asset class and bid in real time. The aim is to change the behaviour and challenge the EUR 3,000 billion factoring market by creating a fair and transparent marketplace through technological innovation. The EIC Fund investment…

Newly-established Danish small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) bank kompasbank announced their go-live on Mambu’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) banking platform. On Mambu’s cloud-native banking platform, kompasbank said that it was able to build fast and flexible customer onboarding, loan and deposit processes. The challenger bank claimed to be “the first cloud-only bank in Denmark and embraces a fully digital architecture to differentiate its service and products”. kompasbank had secured its banking license from Denmark’s Financial Supervisory Authority in March earlier this year to serve the SME segment. Carsten Smith, COO of kompasbank said, “We think Mambu is the right choice to help…