Business angels network Affärsänglarna AB is partnering with European open banking company Nordigen to connect with investors through the company’s free European open banking API. Affärsänglarna, which means “business angels” in Swedish, formed on March 1, 2021 and already has a network of 100 angels. The network plans to reach 1,000 investors by the end of 2021, and they will work together to lift smart startups and scalable business ideas all the way up to the stock exchange list.
“We work to build small businesses from the ground up. We want to get in very early, even pre-seed, to make a bigger impact and eliminate mistakes. We have one to three pitch meetings per day and are planning to invest in two startups this summer and two in the fall. Our goal is to invest in around five to seven startups per year,” says Sami Sulieman, founder of Affärsänglarna.
Sami found out about Nordigen’s open banking API while doing research online to find the right solution for his company. He defined the most attractive qualities of the service as the lack of screen scraping (which comes with a host of issues) in the technology, as well as, of course, the price. Nordigen uses official PSD2-mandated bank APIs that are well-documented and can be included in regulator-enforced standards.
“I use PSD2 on a daily basis, but I’m not a fan of screen scraping, and Bank APIs can be awful with tricky integrations. I’m an entrepreneur, so we also don’t want to pay companies for each transaction. Nordigen’s free API makes integration a breeze,” says Sami.
Nordigen’s API is fully PSD2 compliant, and better access to open banking data means Affärsänglarna is able to connect with investors more easily and fund more startups. Affärsänglarna’s venture capitalists will also benefit from a more secure connection to their open banking data, as their bank credentials will never be shared with third parties. With the help of Nordigen, Affärsänglarna will be able to further democratise early-stage investment.
“PSD2 was implemented to provide easy access to open banking data, and we are happy that with our solution, Affärsänglarna is not just able to give air under the wings of small companies, but help startups to grow their wings in the first place,” says Rolands Mesters, CEO and co-founder of Nordigen.
About Affärsänglarna
Affärsänglarna was founded in 2021 by a group of investors, entrepreneurs and experienced company builders. Affärsänglarna is a venture capital and private equity company that connects investors and supports unlisted companies with capital and expertise. The company has a network of 100 angels that work together to lift smart startups and scalable business ideas all the way up to the stock exchange list.
About Nordigen
Nordigen is a freemium open banking platform that provides free access to open banking data and premium data insights. Nordigen’s free API connects to more than 1,000 banks in Europe and serves fintech companies and developers in 31 European countries, including the UK. Nordigen is a licensed Account Information Service Provider (AISP), regulated by the The Financial and Capital Market Commission of Latvia and authorised in 31 European countries.
