Matters founder and CEO Per Österström (left) and chair Lars-Åke Norling Matters, a Stockholm startup building an AI-powered consumer bank, has raised $5m in pre-seed funding as it comes out of stealth. Swedish angel investor Jakob Johansson led the round. Per Österström founded the company in April. He founded Sambla, a Nordic consumer loan broker, in 2014 and sold it to Nordic Capital in 2021.
Matters plans to charge customers a flat monthly fee for everyday banking, along with an AI adviser that helps them spend more carefully and save more. In addition, fees a bank would normally keep, such as card charges paid by shops and currency exchange fees, will go back to customers as cashback. “Banks earn more when consumers manage their money worse,” said Österström, who is also chief executive. He added that the goal is a bank that makes “financial wellbeing available to anyone.” At the same time, Lars-Åke Norling has joined Matters as chair. He was chief executive of Nordnet, the Swedish savings and investment platform, from 2019 until March this year. “I have spent my career in regulated consumer finance, deciphering when a financial product will and won’t work,” Norling said.
Several other angel investors also took part in the round. They include Knut Frängsmyr, Klarna’s former chief operating officer, and Douglas Stark, a co-founder of scooter company Voi. Johan Bladh of Röko, Patrik Tran of Validio and Per Widerström of Evoke, a former chair of Sambla, also invested. Matters will use the money to apply for licences, expand across the EU and grow its 14-person team.
It may also make acquisitions. The company has not said which licences it will seek or which countries it will launch in first. Once licensed, it will compete with established neobanks such as Revolut, which already operate across Europe. Matters said its first consumer product will launch in the coming weeks.
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