Januar raises DKK 45 million in historic seed round
Januar raises DKK 45 million in historic seed round
Despite being founded just over a year ago, Copenhagen Fintech member and former Incubation Program participant, Januar, is already breaking records after closing the largest ever seed round in Danish history, following investments of just over DKK 45 million from multiple investors.
Januar is a compliant gateway to the new digital economy for crypto businesses and institutional investors, established with the goal of helping crypto companies that have difficulty getting an account with the established banks. Januar offers these companies payment account solutions to accept payments and send payouts while maintaining full compliance and stable business operations.
The round was led by Element Ventures, while Outward VC, Angular Ventures and several angel investors also participated.
- These are European fintech investors, and that's really good for us, because we are a company with a great European focus, says founder and CEO of Januar, Simon Ousager, to FinansWatch.
- This is a venture case where it's about winning fast or dying slowly. So, it has always been the strategy to build fast, and that is also why we are really happy to have closed a round now.
The capital injection comes just as the young company rapidly approaches the launch of its solution:
- We are about to start up, and within the next month we will have the first customers on board the platform so that they can make transactions. It's really fast for a payment institution, says Simon Ousager.
The investments will be used to expand the Januar team, which currently sits at 30 people, particularly within the areas of compliance and operations. In addition, the startup has clear ambitions to grow beyond Denmark, and into the European market, a move which depends on Januar having its license extended so that it can be used in other European countries.
- We are a Danish company licensed in Denmark. We must have it expanded so that we can pass into new markets such as Germany and France. Our partner bank right now is giving us access to some markets. But we want to make sure that when you, as a crypto company onboard with Januar, that in a couple of years, you will have access to local accounts in most of the EU, says Simon Ousager. That is the vision. We start in Denmark, and from there we go beyond the country's borders.