Neonomics Secures $4M After Slashing Costs by Half

Jan de Vries · 2026-10-16

Neonomics, a Norwegian open finance platform, just raised $4 million from existing shareholders. But here's the twist: they cut their operating costs by nearly 50% first. That's not your typical startup story. Most companies raise money to grow. Neonomics raised money after proving they could run lean. ### The Funding Details The company didn't name which investors chipped in this time, but their backers include Newmark Capital, Bankify, FirstMark Capital, and TTU Private Equity. To date, Neonomics has pulled in over $50 million in private investment. Not too shabby for a startup founded in Oslo back in 2017. Alfonso Muñoz, who stepped in as CEO, had this to say: "We have fundamentally strengthened Neonomics, creating a more focused and efficient business with a clear direction for growth. The combination of a significantly improved cost structure, growing customer demand and continued shareholder support puts us in a strong position to execute on our strategy." Translation? They tightened their belt, and now they're ready to sprint. ### What Neonomics Actually Does If you're not familiar, Neonomics is an open finance platform. It connects businesses to over 3,500 banks across Europe through a PSD2 network. In the Nordics alone, they reach more than 20 million consumers. That's some serious coverage. Their product suite, branded as Nello, covers three main areas: - Nello Data: Real-time account verification and transaction access - Nello AI: Turns raw transaction data into financial intelligence for credit and income decisions - Nello Pay: Account-to-account payments that are faster and cheaper than card-based rails They're licensed by the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority as a Payment Institution, Payment Initiation Service Provider, and Account Information Service Provider. That authorization works across the entire EU. ### The Cost-Cutting That Made This Possible Here's where it gets interesting. Muñoz joined as CFO in 2025, then became Interim CEO in February 2026. During that transition, he focused on financial governance and operational discipline. The result? Operating costs dropped by almost half. That kind of reduction isn't just about survival. It's about building a business that can scale without burning through cash. And the timing couldn't be better. Since the start of the year, Neonomics has seen over 60% growth in new customer acquisition. Both their payments and financial data segments are growing. So they're not just cutting costs—they're growing revenue too. ### Why This Matters for Open Banking As API-level access to bank data becomes more commoditized across Europe, companies like Neonomics need to find new ways to add value. Payments alone won't cut it anymore. Neonomics sees opportunity in structuring, enriching, and interpreting data for clients. They're moving beyond just providing access. "Providing access to financial data is only the starting point," Muñoz added. "The real value lies in turning that data into intelligence that improves financial products, workflows and decisions. We see significant potential here alongside the continued growth of our payments business." That's a smart pivot. Because when everyone can access the same data, the winners will be those who can make sense of it. ### What's Next for Neonomics The fresh $4 million will fuel growth in several areas: consumer-facing financial services, personal finance, accounting, ERP, and businesses building products around financial data. Basically, they want to be the infrastructure layer that powers the next generation of financial tools. It's a bold play. But if they can keep costs low while growing customers at 60%, they might just pull it off. And for anyone watching the European open banking space, Neonomics is definitely one to keep an eye on.