This week’s edition of Finovate Global features recent fintech news from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.
Norwegian open finance innovator Neonomics raises $4 million in new funding
Open finance platform Neonomics has received an investment of $4 million. The funding comes from the Norwegian firm’s existing shareholders and follows a strategic transformation that reduced its operating cost base by nearly 50% while maintaining high service quality and existing customer base.
“We have fundamentally strengthened Neonomics, creating a more focused and efficient business with a clear direction for growth,” Neonomics CEO Alfonso Muñoz said. “The combination of a significantly improved cost structure, growing customer demand and continued shareholder support puts us in a strong position to execute on our strategy.”
Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Oslo, Neonomics offers a full-stack open finance platform. Via a single secure API, the company unifies Pay by Bank payments, enriched account data, and AI-ready financial intelligence and connects businesses to more than 3,500 banks across 30 European markets. In a statement, the company added that they are working to move further up the value chain in financial data by helping firms structure, enrich, and interpret that data to build better, more personalized products and experiences for customers.
“Providing access to financial data is only the starting point,” Muñoz said. “The real value lies in turning that data into intelligence that improves financial products, workflows, and decisions. We see significant potential here alongside the continued growth of our payments business.”
AI-native personal finance platform Matters emerges from stealth
Swedish AI-native personal finance platform Matters has emerged from stealth with $5 million in pre-seed funding. The company, led by Per Österström, founder of consumer loan broker Sambla Group, secured the investment from Jakob Johansson, a Swedish angel investor, along with former Klarna COO Knut Frängsmyr and other angel investors.
Matters will use the capital to apply for licenses, expand across the EU, and add talent to its team. The company is also considering strategic acquisitions. Matters also announced that it has brought in Lars-Åke Norling—former CEO of savings and investment platform Nordnet—as chair of its board.
“Banks earn more when consumers manage their money worse,” Österström said. “At Matters, we’re purposely traveling in the opposite direction. Our goal is to build a bank that actively makes financial wellbeing available to anyone, not just those who already enjoy it.”
For a flat monthly fee, Matters offers neobank services along with an AI advisor to help users increase savings through more conscious spending. “One that helps you spend less on lunch out, finds subscriptions you forgot you had, gets rid of late fees, and books the cheapest possible deal on your summer trip to Spain, among other things,” Österström added in a post on the company’s LinkedIn page. “We believe everyone should be able to afford their own private banker, in their pocket, who cares about the same goals you do.”
Founded in April 2026, Matters is headquartered in Stockholm.
Danish VC firm Seed Capital closes fifth fund with focus on fintech
Seed Capital, a venture capital fund based in Copenhagen, has closed its fifth fund at €130 million. The fund will target 15-17 startups from seed through Series A throughout the Nordics with initial investments of between €3 million and €6 million. The fund will continue to emphasize investments in fintech and AI-powered B2B technologies while adding cybersecurity and resilience as new areas of investment.
Founded in 2004, Seed Capital has historically invested solely in Danish startups. But with its fifth fund, the firm plans to expand beyond Denmark, with Sweden a strategic priority. Seed Capital is among Denmark’s largest funds specializing in seed-stage technology companies. The fund’s portfolio has included companies such as Trustpilot, Lunar, and Flatpay. The fund has already begun deploying that €130 million in capital with investments in Fortiv, Moxso, Repodo, and Oplane.
“Broadening into the Nordics is a natural extension of the fund model we’ve built over 20 years, combined with bringing our track record and operational experience in fintech, cybersecurity, and resilience to founders across the region,” Seed Capital Managing Partner Christian Brøndum said. “Staying close to founders is central to how we work and with the Nordics. Here we can be on the ground in under an hour and be there for the founders we partner with.”
“There are right now great opportunities at the intersection of security and AI,” Seed Capital General Partner Geeta Schmidt added. “As companies are building faster with AI, secure software becomes essential and these shifts and solutions we’re seeing are the ones we want to invest in, in Sweden and across the Nordics.”
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Middle East and Northern Africa
- Egyptian fintech MNT Halan concluded the retail portion of IPO with official trading on the Egyptian Exchange slated to begin next week.
- Ethiopia joined the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System network.
- The central banks of UAE and Georgia inked a Memorandum of Understanding to support cross-border payments and fintech innovation.
Central and Southern Asia
- Pakistan-based Islamic bank Meezan Bank completed migration of its payments business to BPC’s SmartVista platform.
- Nepal-based software firm InfoDevelopers launched its customer onboarding and identify verification solution VeriXa.
Latin America and the Caribbean
- Brazilian fintech NG.CASH raised $15 million in funding to expand credit access.
- Peruvian electronic money issuer Ligo announced an expansion into six Latin American markets: Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, and Ecuador.
- Colombian fintech Fronte secured an undisclosed pre-seed round led by Rally Cap VC and Bankless Ventures.
Asia-Pacific
- Visa secured approval from the People’s Bank of China to establish a domestic bank card clearing business in the country.
- Japanese banks completed a stablecoin proof-of-concept.
- Regulators in New Zealand outlined expectations on cyber risks associated with frontier AI.
Sub-Saharan Africa
- South African fintech startup Kuunda completed a $5 million secondary share transaction led by E4E Africa.
- MoneyHash partnered with South Africa-based fintech Ozow to expand access to online payment options for merchants.
- Uruguay-based payments platform dLocal partnered with Western Union to expand remittance services to Africa.
Central and Eastern Europe
- Payments Industry Intelligence showcased Latvia’s efforts to become a major EU fintech hub.
- Slovakia’s QR-based loyalty platform BonusQR unveiled a redesigned customer app and dashboard, along with expanded coupon management.
- Revolut launched its mobile phone plan, Revolut Mobile, in Germany.
Photo by Mai Sakura on Unsplash
