ZELF, a neobank with a global focus on Gen Z’s financial services, has secured $2 million (approx £1.4 million) in a pre-seed funding round.
“The incredible demand is a strong encouragement to accelerate our growth”, says Elliot Goykhman, Founder & CEO of ZELF, “and we are thrilled that the investors share our vision of a contactless and cashless society. We are confident that our business model of eliminating cumbersome banking apps, as well as physical plastic cards, will prove to be the winning strategy.”
Who backed ZELF?
The round was led by Austrian venture capital fund 3VC with participation from Seed Х and Hard Yaka.
Also, ‘UK Angel Investor’ of 2019, Chris Adelsbach, venture partner at Techstars and founding partner at Outrun Ventures, invested in the neobank and Yair Goldfinger, co-founder of ICQ and “inventor” of instant messaging.
Chris Adelsbach: “I am hugely impressed with ZELF’s go-to-market approach — not only did they got rid of mobile banking apps and plastic cards to reduce user’s onboarding time, but they also created unique business processes to cut customer acquisition costs. This is one part of a great user journey that sets ZELF apart from the competition. I am delighted to be backing them in their vision of making banking more inclusive globally.”
How will the funding be used?
The funding will be used to accelerate neobank’s growth further and expand its services through Europe, in Spain, Germany, Poland, Italy, and to establish its presence in the UK and the US.
Gen Z’s financial service
Founded by Elliot Goykhman, ZELF brings financial services directly to instant messengers like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Viber.
As per the company’s claims, it takes less than 30 seconds to receive a virtual Mastercard card and an IBAN account. Once issued, a customer can send and receive money quickly through the messaging platform of their choice.
Uses AI-powered voice control system
Based out of Riga, Latvia, ZELF uses an AI-powered voice control system that allows users to request money, send invoices, check account activity, and more.
According to the company, ZELF’s digital Mastercard cards have actively been used by tens of thousands of cardholders in France following the launch in August of 2020. Notably, over half a million customers from 100+ countries worldwide have pre-ordered ZELF cards.
Scharf, Partner at 3VC: “Gen Z is the first smartphone generation. Cash is an alien concept in their world. As a parent, I am excited about how ZELF empowers Gen Z as consumers by seamlessly integrating with the platforms they already use and at the same time includes parents and applies technology for safe digital engagement.”
The post ZELF banks £1.4M, UK’s Chris Adelsbach backs Latvia-headquartered fintech’s growth appeared first on UKTN (UK Tech News).
