Danish challenger Lunar bags €210m as it sets sights on conquering the Nordics

Challenger bank Lunar has closed one of the biggest rounds raised by a Danish fintech, landing a €210m Series D to help it continue on its expansion plans.

The round was led by family office Heartland and saw participation from Kinnevik and Tencent.

With the new cash, Lunar is planning to fast-track the rollout of its digital banking services across the Nordics, with the digital bank currently serving more than 325,000 customers across the region.

"We are at a true crossroads in the Nordics. Both private and business customers expect a more convenient, empathic and engaging alternative to traditional banks, lenders and payment service providers,” Ken Villum Klausen, CEO and founder of Lunar, said.

“The investment underpins Lunar’s long term vision of building a digital-first financial ecosystem for both private consumers and businesses.”

In the last year, Lunar has nearly doubled its customer base, seeing it grow by 90 per cent, and has added a further €130m in deposits in just the last month alone.

“Kinnevik has always backed digital businesses that challenge the incumbents,” Andreas Bernström, senior investment director at Kinnevik, added.

“We are hence very excited to add Lunar to our portfolio - a tech company at heart with a bold mindset focused on reimagining the everyday banking experience for the Nordic consumers and SMEs.”

As well as expanding throughout the Nordics, Lunar is looking to scout out potential M&A opportunities thanks to the fresh cash burning a hole in its pocket. 

In April of this year, Lunar took its first steps into the world of M&A by acquiring Lendify,  Sweden’s largest loan marketplace.

Through the acquisition, the Nordic challenger is hoping to grow its consumer loan offering and expand its operations in Sweden and beyond.

In December 2020, the digital bank launched a ‘pay later’ function for its customers, taking on buy-now-pay-later-giant Klarna and giving its customers the ability to split all transactions into four instalments retroactively or postpone a payment for up to 30 days.

At the beginning of November 2020, Lunar also took its first steps into the world of joint accounts, allowing its Premium and Pro customers to share their account with up to ten people in the Lunar app.