Anyfin, a Swedish fintech that offers consumers the chance to refinance their loans with other credit providers, has raised a $30m Series C round led by existing investor Northzone. CEO and cofounder Mikael Hussain declined to share the post-money valuation but tells Sifted the raise wasn’t a downround.
As a cost of living crisis and oncoming recession forces consumers to be ever more thrifty with their finances, the startup plans to broaden its product offering and has its sights set on further expansion in Europe.
Refinancing consumer loans
Anyfin was founded in 2017 by Klarna alumni Hussain, Sven Perkmann and Filip Polhem, and aims to offer users better interest rates on loans and debt taken out with other credit providers.
It does this by conducting a more in-depth analysis of a person’s risk profile than is possible only using a credit rating — the way most traditional lenders evaluate a loan application. Alongside that, the startup also looks at publicly available consumer data, and information it can glean from a photo of an existing loan statement or credit card bill.
It says this approach creates a more accurate picture than a credit rating — which focuses on things like repayment history and total levels of debt. A user’s application is assessed in seconds, it accepts 40-70% of people applying, and saves customers around 50% on the cost of their loan, according to the startup.
The startup says the number of active customers on the platform grew 50% over the course of 2022, and half of its 1m app downloads came in the past 12 months.
European expansion
While Hussein tells Sifted expansion plans for the future are still at a very early stage and could well change, Anyfin is considering growing into southern Europe towards the end of 2023 or in early 2024.
The startup is also working on expanding the types of loans it refinances for customers — currently it only refinances unsecured consumer loans (loans that don't require any assets as collateral). Hussain says the startup expects profitability in the next 24 months.
The investors
Since the company was founded in 2017, it’s raised €106m in equity financing — including this round — and just under €500m in debt.
Alongside Northzone, some of the top fintech investors in the game were involved in the round, including existing backers Accel, EQT Ventures, FinTech Collective, Quadrille Capital and Augmentum Fintech. New investor Citi Ventures also got in on the action.
The financial wellness market
Anyfin is one of a growing cohort of European startups that says they are predominantly focused on improving the financial wellbeing of consumers. There’s also:
- UK startup Plend, which aims to offer affordable loans, and raised £40m in November 2022 (a combination of debt and equity).
- London-based Wagestream, which looks to be an “ethical alternative” to payday lenders and raised a $60m round in April last year .
- Also from the UK is comparison tool for financial products TotallyMoney, which has raised a total of $79.9m since 2011 — with its last round, a $9m Series A, coming in November 2021, according to Dealroom.
