Januar, a Copenhagen-based financial infrastructure partner for crypto businesses, has closed €6 million funding. This is the largest seed round raised by a Danish startup to date.
Largest Danish seed round
The investment round was led by Element Ventures (which invested in Arbolus) alongside participation from Angular Ventures, Outward VC, and early pre-seed backers byFounders. Also, the round saw participation from well-renowned angel investors, including Nicolas Julia, co-founder and CEO of Sorare, Charlie Songhurst, former Head of Strategy at Microsoft, Pierre-Antoine Pierre, CEO and Founder IBanFirst, Jørgen Horwitz, former Director of Finansrådet and Einar Braathen from CoinFund.
Janaur will use the proceeds of this round to become the leading one-stop crypto gate for European businesses, serving the growing crypto and digital asset industry with a market cap of $2 trillion. The company is on a mission to support a more open and collaborative financial system based on decentralised technology by offering fiat-to-crypto rails as a service.
“We are building financial infrastructure that will help crypto companies gain the stable foundation they need to innovate and serve their customers with peace of mind. For years, legacy financial service providers have failed to serve these new digital asset businesses, leaving them at risk of being shut down with days’ notice. It’s time we recognize that entrepreneurs building the future of our financial system deserve an IBAN account, like any other business,” said Simon Ousager, CEO and co-founder of Januar.
“We are delighted to back Januar in their mission to build this most critical piece of European financial services infrastructure – connecting old and new worlds. The market need is clear, Januar has the team, industry support and product offering to become a key component in Europe’s digital future,” commented Steve Gibson, Partner at Element Ventures.
“Building financial infrastructure for the crypto economy that is fit for purpose is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Januar’s mission of bringing trust and transparency to innovative digital assets and Web3 businesses resonated strongly with us and we are delighted to support the mission,” commented Kevin Chong, Co-Head of Outward VC.
Crypto-friendly financial services
Januar was founded by Simon Ousager, Andreas Keinicke, and Mikael Buch in 2021. It is the leading European payment gate for crypto companies. Several innovative EU crypto companies use Januar’s payment account solutions to accept payments and send payouts while maintaining full compliance and stable business operations.
Businesses operating within the digital asset space have had an extremely difficult time getting one of the most fundamental assets to business operation, a bank account. Januar is not a bank, but solves this problem by offering local IBAN business accounts to crypto businesses in Europe.
This is possible with its first-of-its-kind Payment Service Provider license with the Danish FSA. Besides the investment, Januar has launched crypto-friendly financial services for businesses across Europe. Initially, it started with payment accounts for crypto businesses.
“We are proud to enable innovative fintech entrepreneurs to run and grow their digital asset business by providing the financial infrastructure they need to build the financial system of tomorrow,” said Simon Ousager, CEO and co-founder.
