Digital money democratized
Delivering rewarding financial experiences to people and businesses.
Changing the world, one transaction at a time.
“We have experienced the effects of digital money being ubiquitous in our local society, building our financial services success out of Norway. We have experienced the joy of empowering people to transact instantly, remotely, in urgent situations and in daily life. We have seen businesses created, grow and flourish as a result of new opportunities arising that weren’t possible with cash or cards. We have seen more equal access to financial services, as mobile phones replace the need for lengthy queues in bank buildings where many are not welcomed.
It is our social obligation and moral calling to share this experience, these capabilities, with the world and spend all our resources digitising and democratising money, making it universally available. Creating valuable connections between people and businesses. This is why Settle exists.”
Daniel R. Döderlein, CEO and founder of Settle Group.
Our journey
Pioneering financial technology since 2010.
Made in Norway with love. It started as an idea back in 2006.
Today we are the mobile payment network of Europe.
This is our journey:
Your way. Settle is live in Bulgaria.
Settle is live in Bulgaria! Bulgarians can now send and receive money, instantly for free with an app that requires no top-up. Businesses can accept digital payments using only their name.
Bulgaria.
Settle Bulgaria is incorporated as a joint venture with local strategic partners. We are ready to add another currency and our 22nd market to the Settle network.
21 markets.
The Settle Network is expanded, and Settle is made available for consumers and businesses in a total of 21 EEA markets. With Settle, consumers can pay and get paid instantly for free using their phone number. Settle offers instant payouts to local bank accounts for free in all 21 markets.
Bank of Cyprus + Settle.
Bank of Cyprus join the Settle Network, distributing Settle to their consumer clients in Cyprus.
Cyprus come together.
Settle officially launch in Cyprus in partnership with JCC Payments. Local staff in our joint venture, Settle Cyprus expands the Settle Network capabilities with local support, marketing and operations, making Settle truly local, yet part of the pan-european Settle Network.
Cash is so yesterday.
Sberbank launches Settle campaign run on all their Croatian ATMs.
Sberbank + Settle.
Sberbank joins the Settle Network, distributing Settle to their croatian consumer clients.
Google + Settle.
As the first regulated financial services company to run 100% in public cloud with Google (since 2013), we are recognised (again) by our cloud operations partner at their global keynote event. At this time our company name is still Auka, while our service name is Settle. Google has published a customer case study on our use of their technology.
Cyprus.
The CEO of JCC Payments, Mr. Nicodemos Damianou, announces that the leading payment service provider of Cyprus will join the Settle network, expanding our reach to include Cyprus.
Visa + Settle.
We win the Visa everywhere challenge with "Settle for business" - our self service mobile payment acceptance toolbox for micro, small and medium sized businesses.
Croatia.
At the Norwegian ambassador's residence on the hillside of Zagreb, Croatian financial institutions are introduced to Settle, and we announce that Croatia will be the first market where the next generation mobile payment network, app and acceptance service will be launched.
A new network.
After careful consideration we conclude that the only way to please all stakeholders, saturate individual markets to form a national winner, and to be able to interconnect to form a pan-european mobile payment network; we have to create a new payment scheme. Settle is born.
Hello world.
During 2017 we travel the world to identify how we best can export and monetise our mobile payment technology and competence. We meet more than 300 different stakeholders, including retail banks, card acquirers, telcos, media and utility companies from around the world, predominantly focusing on Europe.
Fastest growing fintech.
Deloitte awards us the 4th place overall on their Technology fast 500 list for EMEA, making us the fastest growing fintech in EMEA based on revenue.
AUKA.
Following the sale of our Norwegian mobile payment operations we rebrand our company to AUKA. Our focus is to service the banks, expand our platform capabilities and plan for international expansion when our technology and the foreign markets are ready to repeat the success from Norway.
Cashing in.
Norway’s leading bank group, SpareBank 1 (a network of 16 cooperative savings banks) agrees to buy our mobile payment operations in Norway together with a technology licence. We see this as a great way to cash in, learn more from servicing the banks and plan for international expansion. We are engaged to further develop and run the platform up until September 2017.
Mobile groceries.
Our mobile payment service becomes the first alternative to cash and cards to be accepted in grocery stores.
Entrepreneur of the year.
Our CEO & Founder, Mr. Daniel R. Döderlein is named "Entrepreneur of the year" by the Norwegian venture capital association for his relentless work to digitise money with mobile payments.
85% coverage.
Based on our acceptance API, our mobile payment solution is integrated in pos and ecr systems, technically covering an estimated 85% of all retail locations in Norway.
Launch in Norway.
We launch the first mobile payment app in Norway, enabling real-time person to person and person to merchant payments funded by cards, bank accounts and pre-paid.
First ECR integration.
Lindbak, one of the leading electronic cash registry, pos and erp software vendors integrate our mobile payment acceptance into their systems.
Licence under PSD1.
We apply for the first license under PSD1 and get it approved by the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authorities.
Startup of the year.
Awarded "Startup of the year" by Selmer.
Security is in our DNA.
Our engineering team worked closely with academia, ensuring our world-first 100% public cloud based, mobile money infrastructure was secure. The result was that renowned security professor, Mr. Kjell Jørgen Hole joined our board of directors.
Mobile payment patent.
We got a patent granted for our technology and method for app based mobile payments.
Inventing mobile payments.
Our founder envisioned and designed a new concept for sending, receiving and accepting payments. The idea was to enable people to pay and get paid as easy as texting.
Management
Pioneering financial technology since 2010.
Diverse. Experienced. Fearless. Meet our board and management.
Susanne Brønnum
Chairwoman
Susanne Brønnum
Chairwoman
Former Nets VP and Smart Payments CEO Susanne Brønnum, recently left the Nets group, which is the biggest financial payments provider in Northern Europe, after more than 25 years to pursue new opportunities. Susanne held a number of positions at Nets since she joined in 1997 – including Product Manager where she was responsible for the company’s acquiring business for the MasterCard, Visa and JCB brands.
In 2007, she was appointed Director of Cards, the largest Nets business unit. Susanne was appointed CEO of Nets Denmark A/S and Group Executive Vice President in 2010. Susanne has an Academy Profession Degree in Financial Management from Copenhagen Business School (CBS) and has completed The General Manager Programme (TGMP) at Harvard Business School.
Barbara Taudorf
Board member
Barbara Taudorf
Board member
Barbara started her career in the Ministry of Finance and later as an adviser in the Prime Minister’s Office with focus on optimization of public sector, reforms and political negotiations. Barbara shifted from politics to the financial sector just prior to the financial crisis. Consequently, Barbara has taken leading roles in solving some of the most complex issues in the financial sector over the past decades, including major transformation on cost, digitization, regulatory implementations, public affairs and national financial infrastructure schemes.
As part of the Group Management in Nets, Barbara was responsible for the Infrastructure schemes and the financial sector as client in both Denmark and Norway, and later as part of the management group in Nykredit, she lead the implementation of critical regulatory schemes, E2E optimization, robotics and organizational implementation of new IT platform. Today, Barbara works as Business Angel and Non-Executive Board Member. Barbara has a MSc in political science from both London School of Economics and University of Copenhagen.
Maria Akkuratnova
COO & Board Member
Maria-Akkuratnova
Board member
12 years of experience in client relations, new business development and product management at global financial services and technology companies (B2B and B2C). Maria joined Auka in 2015 from Nasdaq where in her role of Customer Relations Director, she was responsible for new product development, growth and internalisation of the company’s offering in global commodities markets, working with top tier investment banks and commodities companies in the US, Europe and Asia.
Thomas B. Carlsen
Board member
Thomas B. Carlsen
Board member
Mr. Carlsen is lawyer with bar exam from New York and Oslo. He has experience working with M&A, contracts and finance at Norway's leading law firm Thommessen and Holland & Knight in New York. Mr. Carlsen has founded several real estate companies including Hovedstaden Eiendomsselskab AS holding some 60.000 square meters of prime real estate in the city center of Oslo. Mr. Carlsen co-founded mCASH (Auka) together with Daniel Döderlein in 2010 and serves as investor, board member and advisor to several start-ups, NGOs and international and Norwegian listed companies.
Edwin Poot
Board Member
Edwin Poot
Board member
Edwin has over 20 years of strong business and technology experience from finance, telecom and energy industries of which the last 10 years as an entrepreneur responsible for technology and product management leading high performance (product) development teams. Before devoting his work full-time to build Energyworx SaaS company, he served as multi-disciplinary technology strategist for several large companies and founded another product company and consulting company. He enjoys public speaking and is 1 part entrepreneur, 1 part executive, 2 parts geek and 2 parts forward-thinker.
Daniel R. Döderlein
CEO & Founder
Daniel R. Döderlein
CEO & Founder
Serial entrepreneur, fintech pioneer and top 200 European fintech influencer. 25 years of entrepreneurial experience in the fields of IT, product development, advertising and financial services. Awarded Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014 by the Norwegian Venture Capital Association, on the Google Cloud Advisory Board and fintech contributor at Forbes.
Dimiter Gurdjilov
CCO
Dimiter Gurdjilov
CCO
More than 15 years of investment banking, private equity and business development experience. Dimiter has most recently been involved with a number of fintech ventures and advisory mandates in Central and Eastern Europe having founded Challenger Capital Partners. Previously, between 2006 and 2010, he was Investment Director at NBGI Private Equity based in London. Vice President at Bedminster Capital (formerly Soros Funds Management).
Within JPMorgan he worked in investment banking covering a number of industries and regions. From 2001 to 2004, he worked in JPMorgan’s office in Australia covering natural resources, power and energy. In the period from 1998 and 2001, he worked in New York in the areas of Telecommunications, Media and Technology. Prior to JPMorgan, Dimiter had worked as an associate for Merrill Lynch Private Banking and as a senior in Arthur Andersen Bulgaria. Dimiter received his BA from the American University in Bulgaria and earned his MBA from the University of Miami.
Leif-Arne Storset
CISO
