Stockholm, 29 March 2023: The Swedish fintech company Open Payments has closed a 3 MEUR growth round.Industrifonden, Sweden's venture capital fund, led the round, with participation from Sony Financial Ventures - Global Brain’s venture capital fund, as well as existing investors. The capital will be used for business-, product development and expansion.

Open Payments is one of the leading Open Banking platforms in the Nordics with focus on business to business (b2b) transactions.The company's platform enables online banking functionality to be shifted from the online bank to the customers’ business systems and interfaces, so that the end user e.g. can approve and make secure, direct payments without having to login to their online bank. Open Payments platform connects to commercial banks (via API technology) to enable services such as payments, account reconciliation and cash management for embedding directly in client applications like ERP systems, payment providers and fintechs.

“We see an increasing demand from leading accounting andERP systems and other financial systems that want to utilize Open Banking in their products in a secure and reliable way,” says Louise Brandt, CEO and founder of Open Payments. “Above all, they want to be able to provide various payments for their business customers, such as supplier payments and salary payouts. Open Payments has a cutting-edge expertise in this area and there are vast business opportunities for both us and our customers. We see that b2b payments are part of the Open Banking space where we have a first mover advantage and can take the lead internationally.”

Industrifonden was the lead investor in Open Payments latest round in 2020, and welcomes Sony Financial Ventures and Global Brain, as a co-investors.

“There are great opportunities with Open Banking since companies don't need to be banks to provide secure banking functionality within their own systems,” says Anna Ljungdahl, Senior Investment Director at Industrifonden. “What they do need though is a player like Open Payments whose technology lowers the entry barriers to these opportunities. We’re happy to keep supporting the team and also welcoming global investors to Open Payment's list of owners.”

Open Payments platform is developed based on the European directive PSD2. This regulatory framework is forcing banks to make account information and payment initiation services available to third parties, with the aim of opening up the market to players other than the banks to bring about new and innovative solutions for financial services

“The Open Banking for the b2b market has been neglected and the digitization that has taken place has instead been targeting consumers,”says Naoki Kamimaeda, partner at Global Brain. “We are impressed by how far Open Payments has come in building and establishing the infrastructure required to make Open Banking a reality for businesses.”

Open Payment's customer base consists of accounting and ERP systems providers and tech companies, who have integrated Open Payment's platform in order to provide their own Open Banking solutions. What the customers have in common is that they have high demands for stability, security and reliability for the millions of business-critical transactions that are being processed. The company's platform has been extremely well-received so far, with several new collaborations underway and Open Payments is looking to expand into new countries with both existing and new customers. In order to continue to beat the forefront of the Open Banking movement, Open Payments will continue to scale the product and develop the platform further during this year.

“In Japan, Open Banking is in the early stages and we are inspired by how far Open Banking has come in Europe and the Nordics,” says Junji Nakamura, Director of Sony Financial Ventures. “We are impressed by OpenPayment's technology and how the company has enabled Open Banking for businesses. We made a strategic decision to invest in Open Payments to allow more markets to embrace the benefits of Open Banking faster.”

Open Payments CEO and founder Louise Brandt has a background from Swedish fintech Zettle by Paypal (formerly iZettle), where she held several senior positions. Together with a team with backgrounds from Swedish fintech unicorns such as Zettle by Paypal, Klarna and Trustly, Open Payments has a unique and comprehensive competence of payment flows and financial services. Open Payments is licensed as a Payment institution - Payment services company by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority.

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Open Payments Europe

Open Payments Europe is a Swedish fintech company that, through its unique platform, offers a cutting-edge infrastructure required forOpen Banking to become a reality. Founded in 2017, and with offices in Stockholm and Vasterås, Open Payments aims to become the new hub of the ecosystem for Open Banking. Read more at openpayments.io

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Industrifonden

Industrifonden is Sweden’s Venture Capital Fund looking for unique, scalable innovation that has a meaningful impact on our society. Industrifonden manages more than SEK 5 billion and invest in early-stage companies, from seed to A-round funding with a reach across the Nordics. The investment focus includes specialized technologies and businesses within DeepTech, Life Science and Transformative Tech. Industrifonden has an evergreen structure which allows a long-term focus on value creation. Read more at industrifonden.com 

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Global Brain

Global Brain Corporation (GB) is an early-stage venture capital firm based in Tokyo. It supports startups that tackle pressing problems, create innovation, and contribute to the stimulation of the Japanese economy and beyond. Its high-achieving, experienced professionals identify excellent startups through multiple global locations in Europe, US and APAC, and provide hands-on growth support. Global Brain is uniquely positioned in the venture scene, managing flagship funds alongside multiple corporate funds, with Sony Financial Ventures being one of them. Global Brain’s total asset under management is over US$1.5 billion, making it the largest domestic independent venture capital firm in Japan.

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Sony Financial Ventures

Sony Financial Ventures Inc.is a wholly owned investment subsidiary of Sony Financial Group Inc. It launched its first venture capital fund, “SFV・GB L.P.”, in partnership with Global Brain Corporation in 2018. The fund is making strategic investments in innovative Fintech startups across the world, that help leverage Sony Financial Group’s wide range of expertise in the fields of financial services such as insurance and banking. Sony Financial Ventures aims to contribute to Sony Financial Group’s existing businesses and new business creation initiatives while also generating high financial returns from its investments.

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