Fintech in the Nordics: What to know about the region

Over the years, the Nordics have built a reputation as a startup factory, with the likes of Skype, Northvolt, and Just Eat all emerging from the region. In fact, according to one analysis, the Nordics have the highest number of unicorns per capita in the world, after Silicon Valley and Estonia. 

But where does the region stand when it comes to financial technology?

I’m the head of fintech intelligence at Copenhagen Fintech. In this guide, I share some of the key information you need to know about fintech in the Nordic region as a whole. I cover: 

• Key statistics about fintech in the Nordics
• How has the Nordic fintech scene grown over the years?
• What other factors make the Nordics a great place for fintechs?
• What’s the future of fintech in the Nordics?
• What are some well-known Nordic fintechs?
• How Copenhagen Fintech and Tenity work together to support Nordic startups

Key statistics about fintech in the Nordics

To give you an introduction to the region, let’s start with some key figures about fintech in the Nordics. 

According to our data at Copenhagen Fintech, we have about 1,350 fintechs across the region:

• Sweden has about 500
• Denmark has 350
• Norway and Finland have about 180 and 210 respectively
• Iceland has 70. 

Per capita, that means that Iceland excels, with 192 active fintechs per million people, compared to 59 in Denmark (which takes second place). 

As of 2022, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark ranked among the world’s top 20 fintech nations, according to FintechMundi. Meanwhile, Stockholm ranked as the 14th best city for fintechs in the world. 

Our data shows that the largest category of fintechs in the Nordics was data aggregation and analytics, with over 200 fintechs, followed by:

• Payments
• Accounting and payroll
• Wealthtech
• Lending and funding.

In 2023, there was a large decline in the number and value of funds raised by fintechs across the world. Sweden was the most active country in the Nordics, with 51 deals in total (making up 46% of the region’s total). Denmark came second, with 21%, and Norway third with 19%, according to Fintech Global’s data. 

However, since then, the Nordic fintech scene has seen a recovery. For example, in the first quarter of 2024, Danish fintechs received more investment than they did in all of 2023—i.e. €214 million. 

For more data on the state of fintech in the region, download our Nordic Fintech Report 2024. 

How has the Nordic fintech scene grown over the years?

Back when we launched Copenhagen Fintech back in 2016, the local industry was still in its infancy, with probably only about 466 fintechs in the entire Nordic ecosystem. 

At the time, the industry was at the beginning of a growth curve. It has tripled in the years since. There are three main factors behind its growth.

Firstly, the Nordic region’s exceptional digital infrastructure has provided an important basis for fintechs. Denmark, for instance, has long been recognised as one of the most digitally advanced nations in the world. 

Meanwhile, Sweden has long been one of the pioneers of the cashless society. Back in 2016, only 2% of the value of all payments was in cash in Sweden, while the proportion of transactions paid by cash in shops was 20%, compared to a global average of 75% (according to figures in The Guardian). Norway, Finland, and Iceland are also not far behind. 

This infrastructure has meant that launching a fintech has historically been relatively easy. And it means that the public is much more open to using digital financial services products too. 

A second factor in that growth has been the Nordic population’s enduringly high level of public trust in the financial sector and businesses. 

The Nordics have some of the highest levels of trust in government in the world, with a rate of 60% in Norway compared to 24% in the US, according to a study by the South Oregon University.  

That trust is not just in the government, but in society as a whole. Social trust and cohesion is higher in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden than among all other EU countries, according to the World Happiness Report. 

How has this affected fintech companies? It’s been argued that, in this context of high trust, businesses tend to be more honest in disclosures and their perceived level of truth. This impacts adoption again, as people are happy to trust new products, trusting that their data and finances will be secure.

Finally, the regulatory environment in the Nordics has generally been supportive of fintech innovation.

Obviously, the precise state of this environment differs from country to country. But Denmark, for instance, has very supportive regulations, as the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) has a long-standing sandbox in which fintechs can test their products in a controlled setting. 

Meanwhile, Norway has institutions such as Innovation Norway that provide grants to new businesses and entrepreneurs. And in Sweden, startups can apply for funding through Vinnova, the Swedish Energy Agency, as well as the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth (Tillväxtverket).

Together, these factors have created the infrastructure, the audience, and the funding environment for fintechs to thrive. 

What other factors make the Nordics a great place for fintechs?

Strong digital infrastructure, public trust, and a supportive regulatory environment have helped to create a fruitful environment for fintechs to grow in the Nordics. 

But they’re not the only reasons why the Nordics are a great place for fintech. Here are two more reasons why the Nordics are a great place to set up or relocate your fintech, or collaborate with a local startup in the fintech industry. 

1. You’ll be part of a highly network-driven community

One of the aspects of the Nordic fintech ecosystem that we find really positive is that it’s such a mutually supportive community. If as a fintech or incumbent you’re prepared to build relationships within the financial services industry, you can find a vast array of opportunities. 

That’s partly because different players want other new ventures to succeed. Banks or established insurers, for instance, want to help the fintech sector. And there’s generally a real spirit of mutual cooperation and support among fintechs too. In practice, this means that you can access mentors and advisors from across the Nordic ecosystem, for assistance with anything you need.

At Copenhagen Fintech, we work to facilitate this community. We’re a key hub in the local fintech network. We bring together 250+ startups in our coworking space and help them connect with stakeholders from across the wider financial industry—including our partners such as Visa, Mastercard, and BNP Paribas. 

2. Nordic startups have an international outlook from the beginning

While the Nordics have produced a high number of fintechs per capita, the market here is actually quite small. So, while the local audience is very engaged and ready to try new products, fintechs must expand abroad if they want to grow. 

This is a fundamental element of the local fintech growth trajectory, and it means that startups, from the very beginning, have to have global ambitions and the intention of scaling. This outlook tends to be part of most Nordic founders’ mindset from launch. 

So, Nordic fintechs will look to expand in the Nordics first, and then within Europe they will often start with the DACH region. Alternatively, they’ll grow in the US or the UK, like Chainalysis has done. 

At Copenhagen Fintech, we encourage startups to adopt this global mindset from the start, -  connecting them with global players through delegations to other markets, and at our events such as the Nordic Fintech Week, about which I share more below. 

What’s the future of fintech in the Nordics?

There are extremely positive signs for the future of Nordic fintech. As anyone who works in fintech anywhere in the world will know, the last couple of years have seen funding opportunities contract globally. However, here in the Nordics, we’re seeing a recovery—and at a faster rate than elsewhere in the world. 

For instance, in the first quarter of 2024, fintechs in Denmark received more investment than in the entire previous year. It suggests things are picking up, although we are still likely to see small ticket sizes in terms of investment over the year ahead. 

One area where I expect to see a lot more growth in the Nordics is in AI. Of course, there’s a lot of hype around this technology in every industry, but it’s something we’re seeing a lot of interest in—from fintechs and founders, investors, and the public.

AI represents an enormous opportunity for nearly every industry and business. This technological paradigm shift is expected to have a radical impact on how we work and live. We expect that in the coming years, as AI solutions mature and user experience (UX/UI) improves, mass adoption will follow.

In any case, we’re expecting Nordic fintech to continue to grow. 

What are some well-known Nordic fintechs?

Some of the best-known Nordic fintechs include:

• Klarna, a Swedish buy-now-pay-later fintech. Already in 2011, 40% of Swedish ecommerce sales went through Klarna. As of 2022, it was valued at $7 billion. 
• Tink, a Swedish open banking platform. In 2022, it was acquired by Visa for €1.8 billion. 
• Pleo, a Danish expenses management technology. It was Denmark’s fastest unicorn ever, reaching a valuation of $1 billion after just six years. It’s currently valued at $2.3 billion.
• iZettle, a Swedish fintech creating point of sale devices. Founded in 2010, it was bought by PayPal for $2.2 billion and is now known as Zettle. 

How Copenhagen Fintech and Tenity work together to support Nordic startups

At Copenhagen Fintech, we’re the largest fintech hub in the Nordics. We’ve been running since 2016 and over that time we’ve supported hundreds of local startups to grow.

This year, we partnered with Tenity to Launch the New Nordic Challengers Program for Nordic and Baltic fintech startups. Tenity is an open innovation organisation that helps corporates solve their innovation challenges by enabling partnerships with fintech startups. This is an accelerator for fintechs and insurtechs, covering value propositions, prototypes, fundraising, business structure and product-market fit, and pitching. 

One of our biggest events at Copenhagen Fintech is the Nordic Fintech Week. The first conference went live in 2017 as “Copenhagen Fintech Week,” a small gathering in Copenhagen harbor, a time in which the fintech sector was still unaware of any hype and jargon.

Growing year by year, “Copenhagen Fintech Week” changed its name in 2022 to “Nordic Fintech Week”, to better reflect its role as leading community-driven fintech conference in Northern, that enables growth for the Nordic fintech ecosystem through facilitating global network, partnerships, and knowledge – what we call “Nordic Innovation, Global Scale”.It now has thousands of participants from across the region and the world. 

During the programme, Tenity will invest €50k in the selected startups, in exchange for 2.5% equity and a participation fee of €10k. At the end of the programme, there’s the potential for follow-up investment of €250k. 

We feature 200 fintechs, host 200 speakers, and have 100 financial institutions that attend. It runs over two days, with events such as Demo Days, research symposia, networking events, and more. 

Overall, it’s about connecting people and sharing knowledge about the financial ecosystem. 

Work with Copenhagen Fintech and Tenity for unmatched fintech expertise 

In this post, I’ve shared some of the strengths of the Nordic fintech scene. With its supportive regulation, exceptional digital infrastructure, and a community driven by networking and growth, it really is a great place to launch or relocate a fintech startup. 

Learn more about how Tenity and Copenhagen Fintech are collaborating: Tenity and Copenhagen Fintech Launch the New Nordic Challengers Program

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