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Wellstreet Fintech Fund I discloses backing from the retail chain owners
Following the announcement of the first close of Wellstreet Fintech Fund I, we can now share that one of the distinct names backing this fund is that of the founders of the Jula store chain, through Jula Holding. The investment aims to support the next generation of fintech innovators.
A few months ago, Wellstreet announced the launch of a new fintech fund aiming to drive greater efficiencies throughout the global finance and banking ecosystem. We reported that the VC fund has backing from top executives from leading Nordic banks and fintech companies, including Avanza, Collector, Handelsbanken, Swedbank, Northmill, Resurs and Klarna. Now, we can share that another strong name among supporters is that of the family office from the founders of the tools and technical household goods store Jula, Jula Holding.
Although it may seem an unusual partnership for an inadvertent onlooker, the Jula family and Wellstreet have several key synergy points contributing to such involvement. Under the Jula Holding umbrella lies over a handful of companies beyond their recognized retail chain, from a hotel to an energy company. They all have the philosophy of cooperation and sustainability in common, always aiming higher. That’s very similar to what we at Wellstreet call our Push-forwardness methodology: we build sustainable and profitable tech companies with a net positive impact in their value chain and push them in the right direction, for a better tomorrow.
The synergies don’t stop there, for the family office has made investments similar to Wellstreet before, investments in industries, such as sustainable tech, e-commerce, training tech, and fintech. They own the loan agency Wästgöta Finans, a customer of our portfolio company Future of Retail, and they have been a shareholder of insurtech Gofido since September 2021. Fintech is one of the sectors where they are very aligned with Wellstreet, given that we have many team members with a considerable experience in the area. This brings us precisely to the point in time when we decided to raise capital for our first fund dedicated to fomenting just this industry. The moment just couldn’t be better for this association to take place.
We at Jula envision an environment where customers and legacy banks both have the power to set their businesses for success. Therefore we believe that investing in the middle ground is the best way to achieve more efficiency in the industry. We believe that Wellstreet is the perfect actor to bring forth and support the future of finance, says Magnus Sigurd, Business developer at Jula Holding.
The fintech fund's scope targets the change occurring in the fintech space from the inside. The first three waves in fintech pursued the place of competition or a parallel route to the banks and financial institutes. Instead, we wish to help these legacy players (no matter size or age) to become more efficient and adapted to new market standards by cooperating with them. So the goal is to curate B2B service and infrastructure technology providers, and the first numbers from the portfolio startups of this fund have already shown the great direction that we are going, says Armando Coppola, Partner and Fund Manager at Wellstreet.
We are thrilled to count with Jula Holding in this investment vehicle in the making. With an anticipated total closing of approximately USD 40 million, Wellstreet plans to make up to 20 investments in early-stage fintech companies with global business models and innovative solutions over the next couple of years. This is but the beginning of a long-lasting partnership that will undoubtedly bear juicy fruits for the Nordic and European markets.
About Jula Holding
The Jula Holding Group emerged from operations associated with the retail company Jula AB. A group has now evolved from retailing with operations in several different sectors. The group stands on seven legs today, where Jula Holding is the executive owner company. The idea is that the group will acquire, start and develop new and existing businesses. Synergies and added value are of prime importance, the different activities of the group should support each other.
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