An update on fintech in Scandinavia

With Money 20/20 Europe coming up the Nordic region is the center of attention for the world of fintech. The expectations are sky-high on what will be the next big thing coming out of the Nordics, and Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki and Copenhagen are considered future fintech frontrunners. This is fueled by numerous success stories of Nordic fintech companies delivering a proof of concept in their home markets before expanding globally.

2015 was an unprecedented year for fintech in the Nordics, and activity levels in Norway alone shows great potential both in terms companies founded, revenue growth and notable transactions.

Notable examples include, payment powerhouse Klarna is growing steadily in both existing as well as new markets. Klarna is also showing some impressive valuations (with actual revenues as value drivers). Payment solution provider Auka (formerly mCASH) has proven their platform by delivering a payment solution to SpareBank 1 and is now ready to scale the platform to other European banks. SME-focused  challenger bank Holvi was acquired by BBVA for an undisclosed amount. iZettle shows us that payments is just a stepping stone towards the real revenues by moving into small business lending. At the same time as the payment segment is entering a consolidation and expansion phase, the activity levels in alternative finance is increasing. And this is onlye the beginning.

If we add up the number of fintech companies from the Nordic countries the total amount of companies have exceeded 100, and as the interest for fintech is growing the number is expected to increase. For more info on fintech in the Nordic region, feel free to check out the Nordic fintech section of my site as well as LTPs list of top 50 Scandinavian fintech companies.

If you do feel that any companies are missing on the map, I simply could not fit all 75 companies from Scandinavia on the map, but I most likely have them in my database. See you at Money 20/20 this coming week in Copenhagen.