正在打造人工智能驱动型消费银行的斯德哥尔摩初创公司Matters在结束隐秘运营状态之际，已筹集到500万美元的种子前融资。瑞典天使投资人雅各布·约翰松（Jakob Johansson）领投了本轮融资。
Matters, a Stockholm startup building an AI-powered consumer bank, has raised $5m in pre-seed funding as it comes out of stealth. Swedish angel investor Jakob Johansson led the round.
佩尔·厄斯特伦（Per Österström）于4月创立了该公司。他于2014年创立了北欧消费贷款经纪公司Sambla，并于2021年将其出售给北欧资本（Nordic Capital）。
Per Österström founded the company in April. He founded Sambla, a Nordic consumer loan broker, in 2014 and sold it to Nordic Capital in 2021.
Matters计划就日常银行业务向客户收取固定的月费，并配备一个人工智能顾问，以帮助他们更审慎地消费和进行更多储蓄。此外，银行通常会保留的费用（例如商店支付的刷卡手续费和货币兑换费）将作为现金返还给客户。
Matters plans to charge customers a flat monthly fee for everyday banking, along with an AI adviser that helps them spend more carefully and save more. In addition, fees a bank would normally keep, such as card charges paid by shops and currency exchange fees, will go back to customers as cashback.
兼任首席执行官的厄斯特伦表示：“当消费者理财表现糟糕时，银行赚得就越多。”
“Banks earn more when consumers manage their money worse,” said Österström, who is also chief executive.
他补充说，其目标是一家让“任何人都能获得财务健康”的银行。与此同时，拉斯-奥克·诺林（Lars-Åke Norling）已加入Matters担任董事长。他在2019年至今年3月期间担任瑞典储蓄与投资平台Nordnet的首席执行官。
He added that the goal is a bank that makes “financial wellbeing available to anyone.”At the same time, Lars-Åke Norling has joined Matters as chair. He was chief executive of Nordnet, the Swedish savings and investment platform, from 2019 until March this year.
诺林表示：“我的职业生涯都在从事受监管的消费金融，琢磨金融产品在什么时候行得通、什么时候行不通。”
“I have spent my career in regulated consumer finance, deciphering when a financial product will and won’t work,” Norling said.
其他几位天使投资人也参与了本轮融资。其中包括Klarna前首席运营官克努特·弗伦格斯米尔（Knut Frängsmyr）以及滑板车公司Voi的联合创始人道格拉斯·斯塔克（Douglas Stark）。Röko的约翰·布拉德（Johan Bladh）、Validio的帕特里克·特兰（Patrik Tran）以及Sambla前董事长、Evoke的佩尔·维德斯特伦（Per Widerström）也进行了投资。
Several other angel investors also took part in the round. They include Knut Frängsmyr, Klarna’s former chief operating officer, and Douglas Stark, a co-founder of scooter company Voi. Johan Bladh of Röko, Patrik Tran of Validio and Per Widerström of Evoke, a former chair of Sambla, also invested.
Matters将利用这笔资金申请牌照、向全欧盟扩张并壮大其14人的团队。该公司还可能会进行收购。该公司尚未透露将申请哪些牌照或将首先在哪些国家推出业务。
Matters will use the money to apply for licences, expand across the EU and grow its 14-person team. It may also make acquisitions. The company has not said which licences it will seek or which countries it will launch in first.
获得牌照后，它将与已经真正在欧洲各地运营的Revolut等老牌数字银行展开竞争。
Once licensed, it will compete with established neobanks such as Revolut, which already operate across Europe.
Matters表示，其首款消费产品将在未来几周内推出。
Matters said its first consumer product will launch in the coming weeks.