Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Danish pension provider Velliv has joined forces with the Danish state’s investment fund Vaekstfonden and financial services trade union Finansforbundet to raise DKK 225 million for a Danish venture fund focused on fintech companies. The fintech specialized early-stage venture fund, Upfin, has room to bring on additional investors for a second close.

“The whole world is changing with several so-called megatrends. The financial industry is no exception, due to new digital business models within fintech,” says Christoph Junge, Head of Alternatives at Velliv. “The collaboration with Upfin is a good opportunity to gain access to fintech investments in Denmark and the Nordic region.” Upfin will invest at the pre-seed and seed stage, leading rounds and joining as the specialized co-investor.

“The collaboration with Upfin is a good opportunity to gain access to fintech investments in Denmark and the Nordic region.”

“Over the years, the Danish fintech community has been the cradle of many exciting start-ups,” continues Junge. “It will be really good to invest in the next generation of growth rockets, and we have a clear expectation that it will contribute solid returns to customers,” he elaborates. “We see great opportunities and synergies in working closely with Danish fintech, which with an innovative approach creates lasting solutions for the benefit of customers through new and untraditional methods.”

“Over the years, the Danish fintech community has been the cradle of many exciting start-ups.”

Upfin is run by Managing Partner Johan Lorenzen, who has extensive experience as a founder, CEO, investor and board member in several leading fintech companies, and Principal Oliver Sjöstedt. With a background as a founder, management consultant and angel investor, Sjöstedt has experience in supporting fintech founders and investors. “As specialists, we have built sector-specific expertise and network at a level which doesn’t make sense for either a founder or a generalist investor to do, positioning us as the ideal partner for both,” says Johan Lorenzen.

With asset classes within the private markets space becoming more mature and the private assets universe becoming ever larger, allocating capital to the space is a no-brainer for long-term oriented investors such as Velliv, according to Junge. “For us, institutions and pension funds with a very long investment horizon, it is a natural fit to invest in long duration assets and take on some liquidity risk to get higher returns in return,” Junge told HedgeNordic in mid-2021. Velliv is already an active player in Danish fintech, with the Danish pension fund being part of the board of Copenhagen Fintech and an investor in fintech startup Grandhood.