Wellstreet invests in Aura Banking Cloud – the next generation banking platform

Stockholm-based startup Aura Banking Cloud has quietly developed a cloud-based banking platform that makes it easy and cost-effective for fintech companies and banks to launch new products and services in a flash. After two years of secrecy, the founder reveals for the first time details about his company. In connection with this, the company raises SEK 7 million from Wellstreet Ventures Fund I and Almi Invest.

Aura Banking Cloud is the new tech company that wants to redesign the game map for digital banking solutions. Aura has built a cloud-based open banking ecosystem that helps financial institutions and fintech players launch digital products and services quickly and cost-effectively to keep pace with changing market needs. With its 6,500 API connections, the platform covers a wide range of products - everything from corporate credit, consumer credit, to personal loans and card issuance, to name a few.

Aura wants to increase the banks' revenue opportunities and reduce operating costs. In just a few weeks, the customer can launch a new product and come up with new business models and improve the product mix. Aura's cloud-based architecture is compatible with the market's leading cloud providers; Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure. The company currently consists of 28 employees divided between the head office in Stockholm, and the R&D office in Bangalore, India.

Behind Aura is the founder Prem Bhagwat, with over 20 years of experience in banking technology, where he has helped several traditional banks, as well as future challengers and startups, develop and operate a wide range of banking technology products.

Since the start of operations in 2019, the company has worked quietly to build its platform and already has a handful of big names on the customer list, including Vauraus (the Finnish equivalent of Lendify), DBT Finance and Promentor Finans. Now, almost two years later, Aura's banking platform is being launched on a broader front. 

Aura offers a complete ecosystem that utilizes the cloud’s strength and provides returns after just a couple of months, rather than years or decades. Fintech companies and established banks no longer have to worry about outrageously priced IT projects. With our technology, you can try new products and only pay for the use, which is a fraction compared to traditional infrastructure, says Prem Bhagwat, founder and CEO of Aura Banking Cloud.

In connection with this, the company is carrying out a new issue of SEK 7 million from Wellstreet Ventures Fund I and Almi Invest. Aura will thus be part of the accelerator program Fintech Loft, which operates in collaboration with, among others, the cloud company Amazon Web Services.

We met Aura almost a year ago and have been impressed with how competitive their platform is and which customers they have managed to attract, says Oskar Lagerqvist, Investment Manager at Almi Invest with solid experience in the financial industry and joining the board.

Armando Coppola, Wellstreet's latest partner and Head of Fintech, will also take over as a new board member of Aura. Armando has over 13 years of experience in finance and insurance, including from Avanza and Nordnet.

Aura is the important piece of the puzzle in Wellstreet's offering in fintech. Now we can really offer our own portfolio and other startups to try their products in a well-functioning banking environment in a lightning-fast and cost-effective way. All that is required is a FI permit - the rest we have, says Armando Coppola, partner and fintech manager at Wellstreet.