ELEVATING NEW NORDIC INNOVATION

Copenhagen Fintech as strategic partner in New Nordic Fintech VC

May 16, 2022

Today marks the launch date of Upfin, a fintech specialized early-stage venture fund, with 225m DKK ready to invest in the Nordic region. We believe this is a great win for our community, as Upfin will add specialized capital at the preseed and seed stage, further fueling the growth of Nordic fintech.Copenhagen Fintech as an organization has played a part in the creation of Upfin so today we sat down with our own CEO, Thomas Krogh Jensen to get the ecosystem perspective on this exciting news.Why support the creation of a venture fund?The purpose of Copenhagen Fintech is to build a thriving fintech ecosystem, essentially we see that a local fund dedicated to supporting early-stage fintech companies supports this purpose. In fact, already at the creation of Copenhagen Fintech we included the idea of a venture fund as a goal for 2025, we are now excited to realize what seemed as a far-off ambition at the time.How did CPHFT support the creation of Upfin?It was clear from the start, that while a venture fund clearly would benefit the ecosystem it would need to be separated from Copenhagen Fintech in order to thrive, yet connected in a way that creates maximum synergies for both parties. The idea of Upfin started very much as an internal project, but as the idea turned into a concept it was a process of Copenhagen Fintech helping articulate the synergies possible for a venture fund as a partner to a non-profit ecosystem with a very attractive community to integrate into. As Upfin was further developed as an independent venture, people from the CPHFT team became involved independent of their roles at CPHFT and the three investors behind Upfin; Finansforbundet, Vækstfonden and Veliv were uniquely positioned to see the commercial value of a venture fund utilizing the CPHFT platform as all three are also represented in our board. In short we supported with our platform and involvement of our team.What is the partnership between Upfin and CPHFT going forward?Upfin is an entirely independent and separate venture fund, and now has a commercial partnership with Copenhagen Fintech through the same partnership model that we have available for everyone. The goal for us is clear, we wish to maximize the benefits for our entire community of having a fintech specialized venture fund now going beyond the membership level and engaging at a partnership level.On the people front, Upfin is led by Johan Lorenzen who has been part of both our mentor group and investor program and joined by Oliver Sjöstedt as Principal who has led our startup and investor activities, Mads Tingsgaard as part-time Associate who been leading our market intelligence and of course myself who has been part of co-founding Upfin and will serve on the investment committee outside my continuing capacity as CEO of Copenhagen Fintech.What can fintech founders in your community expect?Founders can continue to trust Copenhagen Fintech as a neutral platform and supporter of their ventures, now with the added benefit of having a local fintech specialized investor very much active within the community. The initial response I have heard from founders have been overwhelmingly positive, and it’s clear there’s been a hunger for more specialized investors in the early-stages that can both understand the unique risks involved within the realm of fintech and have the expertise and network to help them navigate it.

Upfin Press Release

May 16, 2022

Dedicated Fintech VC raises €30M for early-stage investments.Upfin is here to support exceptional fintech founders with capital, deep industry expertise, and an unparalleled network within financial services. Upfin is led by a team with extensive experience founding, operating, and supporting fintech. At first closing Upfin is backed by a sovereign wealth fund, a pension fund and a financial services union with €30m.A Nordic edge with global potentialUpfin originates from a Nordic base, but looks to invest across Europe and the Baltic region as well. The Nordics as base have produced an incredible lineup of global fintech solutions and proven themselves a unique ecosystem with a competitive edge for being the launchpad for tomorrow's financial services. Upfin is here to fuel that edge with dedicated capital, supporting exceptional teams in the very early stages and building the foundation for growth.Specialized and earlyIn an industry where a little in-depth knowledge goes a long way, a lot of it goes a long way further. Upfin will invest at the pre-seed and seed stage, leading rounds and joining as the specialized co-investor. Behind Upfin is Johan Lorenzen, Managing Partner and Oliver Sjöstedt, Principal. Johan Lorenzen can leverage his extensive experience as a founder, CEO, investor and board member in several leading fintech companies. Oliver Sjöstedt adds the experience of having supported hundreds of fintech founders and investors and a background as a founder, management consultant and angel investor."As specialists, we have built sector-specific expertise and network at a level which doesn't make sense for either a founder or a generalist investor to do, positioning us as the ideal partner for both," says Johan Lorenzen, Managing Partner.Originating from the Nordic fintech communityUpfin is a fund with a unique strategic partnership with Copenhagen Fintech. Upfin can leverage a world-class platform of financial institutions, investors, founders, and expert advisors in the Nordics and beyond.ABOUT UPFINUpfin is a Nordic VC dedicated to early-stage fintech, with a first close announced in May 2022 of €30m, with room to bring on additional investors for a second close. The investors behind Upfin are Vækstfonden, a Sovereign Wealth Fund; Veliv, an innovative Pension Fund; and Finansforbundet, the leading Financial Services Union. Through Fund I, the team aims to invest in 15-20 fintech companies.Upfin Press Release, 16 May 2022ContactOliver SjöstedtPrincipal, UpfinPhone: +45 53 87 57 57Email: [email protected]: upfin.io

Newsletter Week 18

May 4, 2022

Read the newsletter here: https://mailchi.mp/cfir.dk/copenhagen-fintech-newsletter-9017279

DLBR og SEGES Innovation indgår i partnerskab med Copenhagen Fintech

May 3, 2022

Dansk landbrug er allerede godt i gang med at blive digitaliseret, men potentialet er stadig stort. Særligt inden for finansiel teknologi går udviklingen stærkt, og derfor indgår DLBR, SEGES Innovation og Copenhagen Fintech i et nyt partnerskab.DLBR er et branchesamarbejde, bestående af 19 rådgivningsvirksomheder fordelt over hele landet. DLBR-virksomhederne ejes af de danske landmænd, som også udgør størstedelen af kunderne.SEGES Innovation udfører forsknings- og innovationsopgaver indenfor landbrugs- og fødevarefaglige områder. SEGES Innovation udvikler og supporterer mange af landmandens vigtigste it-redskaber – også inden for økonomi og finansiel styring.Mere innovation og hurtigere til markedetFormålet med partnerskabet er at forbinde dansk landbrug med det blomstrende innovative miljø af fintech start-ups i Danmark og Norden, hvor nye trends og digitale muligheder vokser ud af. Trends og muligheder som kan booste den udvikling af finansielle teknologier i landbruget, som allerede er i gang. Potentialet for nye samarbejder er derfor stort.”Samarbejder med start-ups inden for fintech kan gøre digitale løsninger til landbruget endnu mere innovative og få dem hurtigere til markedet. Vi skal gå fra at udvikle alt selv til at bygge på standardsystemer og integrere med nye innovative løsninger. På den måde håber vi på, igennem samarbejder med start-ups, at kunne skyde nogle genveje. Derfor er partnerskabet med Copenhagen Fintech helt oplagt for os” siger Sune Aagot Sckerl, formand for digitaliseringsgruppen i DLRB og direktør i Landbosyd.Det er blandt andet digitale finansielle løsninger som automatisering af bogholderi og fakturaer, compliance og hvidvask, alternativ finansiering og data på bæredygtighed (ESG), der er interessante for landbrugsvirksomhederne at samarbejde om.”I SEGES Innovation udvikler og optimerer vi konstant på vores digitale økonomistyringsværktøjer blandt andet ved at implementere machine learning. Men for at følge med i udviklingen inden for fintech, har vi brug for at være tæt på økosystemet. Det kommer vi med dette partnerskab”, siger Jens Bligaard, director, Digital Solutions i SEGES Innovation.Gennem partnerskabet får DLBR og SEGES Innovation adgang til viden og indsigt i det Danske og Nordiske fintech økosystem, specifik matchmaking med henblik på konkrete partnerskaber og mulighed for at deltage som partner i mindre forskningsprojekter inden for fintech med danske universiteter.”Landbrugsvirksomheder er som alle andre virksomheder. De har ansatte, de har et budget, de har opgaver der skal automatiseres, de har brug for finansiering, de investerer osv. Derfor får de som alle andre virksomheder brug for at digitalisere, for at få mest muligt ud af deres bedrift”, fortæller Thomas Krogh Jensen, der er administrerende direktør for Copenhagen Fintech.Danmark og Norden har fordelen af at være stærkt digitaliseret og det gør, at fintech-løsninger kan udbyde en række af tjenester med lave transaktionsomkostninger og mere gennemsigtighed.Om SEGES InnovationPrivat og uafhængig forsknings- og udviklingsorganisation indenfor landbrugs- og fødevareområdet med omkring 530 medarbejdereUdfører forsknings- og innovationsopgaver indenfor landbrugs- og fødevarefaglige områder som f.eks. planteproduktion, husdyrproduktion, miljø, klima og bioøkonomi/bioenergi, cirkularitet, biodiversitet, økonomi og afsætning.Udvikler, vedligeholder og supporterer mange af landmandens øvrige it-redskaber – for eksempel de programmer, landmanden bruger til at styre driften inden for kvæg, svin eller planteavl.Om DLBRDLBR er et branchesamarbejde, bestående af 19 rådgivningsvirksomheder fordelt over hele landet. DLBR-virksomhederne ejes af de danske landmænd, som også udgør størstedelen af kunderne.Samlet set beskæftiger DLBR-virksomhederne knap 2.500 medarbejdere med rådgivning og formidling af viden til landmænd, gartnere og øvrige kunder i jordbrugssektoren. Derudover betjenes små og mellemstore virksomheder i andre erhverv. Virksomhederne i DLBR-samarbejdet leverer uvildig rådgivning inden for områder som, økonomi, jura, miljø, planteproduktion, husdyrproduktion, strategisk udvikling, virksomhedsledelse og energiproduktionOm Copenhagen FintechNavn og adresse: Copenhagen Fintech, Applebys Plads 7, 1411 KøbenhavnGrundlagt i 2016 af bl.a. Finans Danmark, Finansforbundet samt en række kommercielle partnere.Non-profit forening som arbejder med innovation og iværksætteri inden for finans og fintech. Bestyrelsen består af Finans Danmark, Finansforbundet, Dansk Industri, Forsikring og Pension, Vækstfonden, Velliv, Jyske Bank, Lendme, Dreamplan, Jamii.one samt Københavns Universitet og Århus Universitet.Copenhagen Fintech arbejder for at skabe vækst og arbejdspladser i Dansk fintech og for at positionere Danmark og Norden som globalt centrum for teknologisk innovation i den finansielle sektor.Pressekontakt SEGES Innovation: Mette Eika Grønvald, strategisk kommunikationsrådgiver, [email protected], 29116504Pressekontakt Copenhagen Fintech: Thomas Krogh Jensen, adm. Direktør, [email protected], 20601548

Newsletter Week 16

April 21, 2022

Read the newsletter here: https://mailchi.mp/cfir.dk/copenhagen-fintech-newsletter-9011471

Newsletter Week 14

April 7, 2022

Read the newsletter here: https://mailchi.mp/cfir.dk/copenhagen-fintech-newsletter-74