Danish fintech startup Lunar Way has raised €13 million in funding for the purpose of scaling up its business in Nordic countries such as Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland.
This funding has happened after the startup achieved a major milestone of being the first company to acquire licenses such as PISP license in Denmark and AISP license which will further help in distinguishing the fintech startup as a payment institute.
The funding round was led by SEED Capital with Greyhound Capital, Socii Capital and many other individual investors belonging to the financial market.
Know everything about Lunar Way
Popularly known as a bank challenger, Lunar Way has expanded itself in Sweden in December 2018 and is preparing itself to launch in the Norway market by February 2019.
The fintech company made a great start in 2019 by introducing new deposit model where the users are rewarded up to 2% in returns.
Found in 2015, the fintech company is known for breaking the monopoly market on payment services. The company attained the title of payment institute, which allows users to pay their bills, transfer money and analyze their consumption through Lunar Way’s app, while the user’s money stays in his or her regular bank account.
Previously in 2016, the fintech company raised €4.2 million in a round led by SEED Capital, which also included participation by unnamed angel investors.
Where will be funds utilised?
Regarding the usage of funds, Klausen stated that the €13M investment will be utilised in the streamlining of its current products and development of its new products which will be designed according to the suitability of users living in different countries.
This funding will also be utilised in exceeding the fintech startup’s growth as well as the expansion of its banking app in countries such as Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland.
Why is there a need to expand?
Regarding the need for expansion of the startup in the Nordic countries, Villum Klausen stated, “The Nordic economies are some of the strongest in the world and have some of the most stable markets. The Danes, Swedes and Norwegians are digitally native, 90% already have a mobile banking solution, and are used to handling their finances online”.
He further added, “The Nordic clearing system has a monopoly, and even though the countries share many similarities the payment infrastructures are highly fragmented along the national borders – which in turn sets high demands for security and individual and local solutions. That combined with the fact that every citizen must have a national bank account makes it difficult for other challenger banks to penetrate the Nordic market with anything else than a € account for travelling”.
He ended his statement mentioning, “Our solution sets itself apart – both in terms of design and usability – and in terms of our Nordic foundation and our understanding of the different payment infrastructures and demands for security in the Nordic nations”.
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