Press Release: LOQR raises 8M€ to transform the banking and financial sector

PRESS RELEASE

The Series A round, led by Iberis Capital and Semapa Next, will also help to invest in international expansion and double the startup team.

Felgueiras, Portugal – June 22th, 2021 – LOQR, a Portuguese startup that provides digital solutions for financial institutions, has just announced a Series A investment round worth 8 million euros. This investment included the participation of Iberis Capital and Semapa Next, and was backed up by current investors, such as BiG Start Ventures, EDP Ventures and HCapital, the last two through funds in partnership with Banco Português de Fomento.

The amount raised will allow the fintech company – led by Ricardo Costa (Founder & CEO), Jorge Silva (Founder & CCO), Pedro Borges (Founder & COO), and João Cerdeira (CTO) – to continue to invest in the digital transformation of the financial sector, strengthening its international expansion, to invest in technology, innovation and focusing on the evolution of the platform.

According to João Henriques, Partner at Iberis Capital, “LOQR is an operator with a unique and innovative technological approach to the digital transformation and dematerialization of the banking sector, based on the development of intellectual property and R&D. In a short period of time, it was able to gain a unique position in the Iberian market and to position itself for its next expansion process.” “We, as new strategic and financial partners of LOQR, are very excited to be part of its journey of growth and internationalization”, he says.

“We invested in LOQR because its founders demonstrated exceptional qualities to create a differentiating company in Europe”, Hugo Augusto, Executive Board Member of Semapa Next, says. Hugo adds that “the company’s team created a simple product for a complex problem, already validated by the main banks in Iberia”. “Additionally, the quality of the talent that has come together is a sign of the founders’ leadership capacity and a strong indicator of LOQR’s potential to be the leader in digital identification and authentication for traditional banking in Europe”.

The remaining investors emphasize their confidence in the company’s solution. João Freire de Andrade, Executive Director of BiG Start Ventures, believes that “there isn’t one bank ready for the digital future that doesn’t need LOQR”. Luís Manuel, CEO of EDP Ventures SCR, stresses that “the success that LOQR is having in offering tools for managing the lifecycle of the customer’s digital identity for the financial sector will be replicated in other industries, including the energy industry”. Finally, Gonçalo Sousa Coutinho, Director of HCapital, emphasizes that this new round of investment “will certainly contribute to consolidating the leadership position of the LOQR platform and accelerating its international expansion”.

LOQR is operating solidly in Portugal, working with five of the six most renowned and leading national banks. Some of its clients are “Santander” a major global player, “Caixa Geral de Depósitos”, the major player in the Portuguese financial market operating span over 22 countries in Europe, Africa, America and Asia, “Millennium BCP” present in Portugal, Poland, Switzerland, Mozambique, Angola and China, “ActivoBank”, a Retail Banking by Millenium BCP, “Banco Montepio”, “Banco Português de Gestão”, BiG”, “Montepio Crédito” and “Novo Banco”. The company’s Expansion to Europe was the next step and its focus is now on the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, and Africa).

Keeping up with the prospects for growth, the technology company will open more than 40 job vacancies in the coming weeks, with the team – currently 50 employees – expected to double by the end of the year. Backend Software Engineer, Business Developer, Business Analyst & Quality Assurance, Content Marketer, DevOps Engineer, Frontend Software Engineer, Product Manager and SOC Analyst are some of the open positions that can be found at https://careers.loqr.com

“In just five years, we went from being a new and unknown company in the financial sector to being a market leader, with reference clients in Portugal, Spain and Norway”, Ricardo Costa, CEO of LOQR, highlights. “We have proven that it is possible to provide secure financial services remotely and we are obviously proud of our path so far, especially in streamlining processes, to the detriment of waiting, traveling and hassles. But we want to go even further. This investment will allow us to focus our dedication in a wider geographic area, towards sustained internationalization. And, to achieve this goal, we will grow at the most diverse levels – people, development, technology and innovation – but always with the same ambition: to be the market leader in which we operate“, he concludes.

Through its digital onboarding platform, LOQR, based in Felgueiras, allows financial institutions to access the necessary tools to create a fully integrated digital channel. The so-called “digital journeys”, which comply with current regulations and with privacy and security standards, include processes such as remote account opening, access recovery, data updating, among others. Thus, LOQR supports the transition to digital channels and the simplification of processes in the financial sector, focusing on the user experience.

Media contact:

Cidália Fernandes, Head of Marketing – cidalia.fernandes@loqr.com