Relio founding team from left to right: Milos Stokic, Lav Odorovic, Zarko Vukadinovic

The lead investor in this funding round was TX Ventures, the VC investment arm of TX Group. The financing round also included significant investments from SIX FinTech Ventures, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), amongst other new investors.

Zurich, 10 January 2023 – Relio AG ("Relio") completed the closing of its CHF 3 million funding round for the launch of a digital payment account for business customers. The funding round was led by TX Ventures, the VC arm of TX Group, and also included significant investments from SIX FinTech Ventures and High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF). Other participants included F10, daFUND, QBIT Capital and several business angels. 

Neobanks have reshaped digital banking in Europe. However, these digital banks often encounter compliance challenges when servicing corporate clients. Complex ownership structures, international money flows and complicated business models pose higher risks in terms of fraud and money laundering. Due to the elaborate due diligence needed, such clients often wait several weeks to open an account, frequently having  their transactions and accounts frozen as preventive measures until these have been manually screened by experts. Relio has developed an automated compliance framework that performs these checks accurately and quickly, shortening possible delays and bureaucracy, thus lowering the usual frustration these customers experience when trying  to pay salaries and invoices on time. This innovative solution provides Relio with a competitive advantage for reliable Swiss payment accounts in the corporate customer segment.

Relio’s founder is CEO Lav Odorovic, the creator of  Penta, a successful SME neobank in Germany. With the help of this financing round, Relio aims to advance the development of the tech stack and obtain a FINMA Fintech license. 

‍Lav Odorovic, Co-Founder and CEO of Relio: "We are very excited to be working with TX Ventures. For us, they are not just another investor, but a true partner that adds value in various areas. TX has a unique position in the Swiss ecosystem with its long-standing commitment to fintech, its deep startup expertise and its extensive network which has helped us from day one."

‍Krzysztof Bialkowski, Managing Partner at TX Ventures: "We are very excited to be part of Relio led by Lav, the successful founder of German SME bank Penta. We strongly believe that Relio’s experienced team can continue developing the future of finance in SME banking by automating and improving a central aspect of banking: compliance. This allows the company to bring true innovation to the market by getting rid of bureaucracy and waiting times while supporting even the most complex SME customers in Switzerland and abroad."

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