“We have talked to David Nilsson Sträng at HETCH and Helsingborg’s city for a long time about their plans to build a tech environment centrally in the city. The board has for several years been discussing a physical expansion, and we have now found perfect partners to do just that.” says Sebastian Fuchs, co-founder and CEO of SUP46.

SUP46 has already welcomed two new members; Fintech company Jolle, which was part of Fasttrack Malmö and Helsingborg-based Bigheart, which was part of THINK Accelerate.

“It is great that Europe’s leading startup community SUP46 chooses to invest in Helsingborg as the first city outside Stockholm.” says David Nilsson Sträng, initiator of HETCH.

Behind the new initiative HETCH, which will expand into the new Waterfront Business District, is David Nilsson Sträng, who previously ran fintech startup Smart Refill. The initiative is also supported by fintech giant Resurs Bank and property developer Wihlborgs.

Helsingborg has the last couple of years strengthened itself as a tech and entrepreneurial city. With places such as Mindpark and the E-commerce Park of Sweden for many years having contributed to new business environments. Also initiatives such as the logistics hub Grow from NoWaste Logstics creates clusters within different fields.

Together with the news it was also announced that Think Accelerate will move into the new tech-hub as well, from it’s current place at the Mindpark coworking space.

Transperancy: The initiator of this site is also involved in Collaboration Concepts, which owns part of Mindpark and E-commerce Park.

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Fintech Øresund is introduced by five local entrepreneurs, David Nilsson, Smart Refill, Joachim Samuelsson, Crunchfish, Kenneth Nilsson, Resurs Bank, Victor Sandberg, pej and Karsten Deppert, Collaboration concepts.

Crunchfish together with IBM, Resurs Bank, Smart Refill and Collaboration Concepts are the first members and the purpose of the forum is to highlight the experience and skills of financial technology in the region, and create the conditions for faster growth and new businesses in the area.

“We have long wanted to create a local Fintech forum. There is a lot of world-class FinTech here. I want to develop cooperation in the region so that Smart Refill and other companies continue to be at the forefront of this fast-growing industry.”, says David Nilsson, founder and CEO of Smart Refill.

There is already considerable experience, knowledge and entrepreneurial spirit in Fintech in the Öresund region, but there has so far been no industry forum. Through Fintech Øresund, the founders intend to improve the conditions for local Fintech players in order to grow faster and to facilitate the launch of new ventures in the area.

“We are continually looking for emerging technologies from academia and start-ups that have a potential for global markets. IBM embraces an open ecosystem to innovate across industries with cloud, cognitive, blockchain, and IoT technologies. Fintech is an industry we see innovation coming at a rapid pace and it’s my hope that participation in this forum will increase the prerequisites for finding these partnerships.”, says Brandon Jones, Director of IBM iX Nordic.

The Fintech industry has grown ever stronger in recent years, as new technology has made it possible to develop new and more efficient ways of managing payments and information linked to this. The Fintech industry is predicted to become one of Sweden’s strongest growth areas in the next few years.

“There is a lot of high-quality technology being developed in the Öresund region. As a start-up company, it is crucial to be responsive to the market and quickly deliver innovative solutions. Technology from other companies speeds up our development significantly.” says Victor Sandberg, CEO and founder of pej AB.

The core of the business will initially be bi-monthly network meetings at Mindpark in Helsingborg. When Mindpark opens at Hyllie in Malmö, meetings will also be held there. Mindpark resources will administer the activities of the forum, which is organized as a non-profit association.

“Collaboration concepts runs several entrepreneurial clusters in the region. Öresund deserves a Fintech forum to accelerate cooperation and keep up with the rapid industry development. I am pleased that Fintech Øresund will have its hub at Mindpark, Helsingborg and later in Malmö when Mindpark opens there.”, says Karsten Deppert, entrepreneur and founder of Collaboration concepts.

The initiators welcome more members, both Swedish and Danish, who share the founders’ mission to strengthen the Fintech business in the region.

Press photo: The founders of Fintech Øresund, from the left: David Nilsson, Smart Refill, Joachim Samuelsson, Crunchfish, Kenneth Nilsson, Resurs Bank, Victor Sandberg, pej and Karsten Deppert, Collaboration concepts.

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Digimail was founded in 2013 and provides a digital mailbox for individuals and companies that allow them to receive their mail in a secure digital mailbox. The investment by Smart Refill now makes it possible to pursue growth with the aim of becoming a market leader within the next three years.

“This is one of the biggest investments Smart Refill has ever made. Digimail is today number two on the market, but the goal is to be number one shortly. In order to achieve this, we will attract new customers and end users by being the most innovative service with the highest level of security”, said David Nilsson, CEO of Smart Refill in a pressrelease.

Smart Refill is a fintech company delivering market leading payment- and information services to global telecom- and other fintech companies.
Digimail was initially co-founded by Bring City Mail.

“Through the acquistion, the service will expand at a higher pace while focusing on becoming the largest in the industry. With Smart Refill as majority shareholder and their background as suppliers to global telecom and fintech companies, I am convinced Digimail will succeed”, says Patrik Östberg, CEO of Bring City mail.

The investment also means that Digimail will move to Helsingborg and be located together with Smart Refill. David Nilsson, CEO of Smart Refill, expects the company to grow to 35+ employees shortly.

Picture: David Nilsson, Smart Refill. 

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The cost of the deal is unknown, but according to David Nilsson, CEO at Smart Refill, it is a big deal for the company in terms of revenue. The deal is also important because it goes in line with Smart Refill’s strategy to continue building their business in the fintech sector. So far the startup has already had a projects in this areas, including the development of financial platform for Skandia’s mobile banking and Savings Banks’ (Sparbankerna) apps.

Currently Smart Refill has 25 employees, and it is believed that the company will continue growing in the future expanding abroad.

“Last year we established presence in Finland, and in 2016 we are moving into Denmark,” – shares David Nilsson.

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