Would you like a side order of regulatory relief along with your next “million-scale capital investment”?
A combination of a “million euro investment” from European angel fund SpeedInvest, and a regulatory decision that will permit EU-wide operations is great news for Finnish online banking service innovator, Holvi.
SpeedInvest, an investment firm out of Austria, led the new investment in Holvi. The million euros ($1.36 million USD) doubles the company’s total funding, and Holvi anticipates using the additional capital to help expand beyond its native Finland, where its online banking services have fared well in testing.
And it is likely no coincidence that the initial target market for Holvi outside of Finland is Austria, home of SpeedInvest.
Calling itself the “long tail of retail banking,” Holvi is a micro-enterprise online banking specialist with services geared toward freelancers and small business entrepreneurs. The company’s technology does actual book-keeping rather than just simple PFM (personal finance management), and provides an easy way for independent and micro-entrepreneurs to sell their products and services, invoice clients, and track finances.
The company earns its revenues through a small transaction fee of 0.90 euros for incoming and outgoing payments. There is a 3% surcharge for credit card payments, but no cost to opening a Holvi account and no monthly fee.
Holvi has appeared on the Finovate stage twice, at FinovateEurope 2012 and FinovateEurope 2013. The company was founded in 2011, and is headquartered in Helsinki, Finland.