Ingka Investments has made a minority investment together with Creades in Swedish based credit information startup called Kreditz, a Nordic market leader in credit scoring and verification services based on Open Banking and PSD2 data.
The investment is “part of Kreditz’s latest funding round with investors contributing to a total of €10 million of equity capital.”
Founded in 2018, Kreditz helps banks and other financial institutions “to analyze bank transaction data and get a 360 degree view of applicant profiles based on Open Banking and PSD2 data.”
By using bank transaction data as a foundation, the company aims “to bring financial transparency and responsibility across the globe through automated information retrieval and analysis of a loan applicant’s current income and expenses.”
Peter van der Poel, Managing Director, Ingka Investments, said:
“Open-banking-enabled credit and risk insights is an area we believe can add value to Ingka’s financial services proposition in the future. Financial inclusion sits close to our heart, and we are impressed with how far Kreditz has come in the short time they have been in the open banking market. Their innovative solutions drive better understanding of customers’ finances while reducing credit risks, enabling better-priced financial services that are accessible to more of the many people.”
The latest funding round will be “used to accelerate the company’s growth and expansion into new markets.”
Roni Zacharion, Kreditz CEO and Founder, said:
“Right now, the market, which is still immature, is developing at a record-breaking pace. More and more customers, such as banks and loan brokers, see the need to have access to accurate and fully automated real-time data that can enable better and smoother credit decisions. In addition, regulations require moving away from template figures and using real customer information, Kreditz has a market-leading solution and we are pleased that such reputable investors as Creades and Ingka Investments share our vision of building a leading player in Europe in this area.”
Ingka Investments invests to fulfil the IKEA vision “to create a better everyday life for the many people and invests in innovative companies that share our values and our ambition to have a positive impact on people and planet.”
It makes majority and minority investments in various companies, “including start-ups, that can create synergies or are important for our core business.”
This allows Ingka Group “to be as relevant as ever with respect to our core business, and to broaden our investment landscape and diversify our financial risk and return profile.”
