Launching Kompasbank with Michael Hurup Andersen (Episode 41)
In this episode, I sit down with Michael Hurup Andersen, CEO and founder of Kompasbank.
Guests
Show notes
In this episode, I sit down with Michael Hurup Andersen, CEO and founder of Kompasbank.
Michael Hurup Andersen is a Danish fintech entrepreneur and seasoned financial markets professional, currently serving as Founder and co-CEO of kompasbank, a Copenhagen based fintech focused on empowering small and midsized enterprises with integrated financial and operational solutions.
Coming from a Master’s degree in Finance from Aarhus University and Mathematical Finance at the University of Oxford, he has over two decades of experience across banking, trading, and advisory, he has held senior roles at institutions including Alvarez & Marsal, where he advised on M&A and private equity transactions, and Deloitte UK, where he led large teams in banking treasury and risk management.
Earlier in his career, he built deep expertise in capital markets at Saxo Bank and Nordea Markets, specializing in FX options, asset and liability management, and global macro strategies.
In this episode
Michael Hurup Andersen explains why he founded Kompasbank, a Danish digital bank for small and mid-sized businesses, after watching incumbents ignore customers migrating to new banks in London. He describes building technology designed to change, hiring for different company stages, raising capital through the cycle and why investors' goalposts keep moving. He argues the Nordics' head start in digitisation is a competitive advantage and that finance must be ready for blockchain, AI and quantum.
Chapters
- 0:00Introduction and Kompasbank
- 1:27Why start an SME bank
- 8:33Technology as an enabler
- 14:39The value of an ecosystem
- 17:12Scaling the team
- 24:00Raising capital through the cycle
- 29:51What investors should expect
- 33:30Why the Nordics are different
- 37:02Competing with Revolut
- 41:01Fintech in three to five years
- 45:09Managing risk when the future is unpredictable
- 49:51Advice for founders
Key facts
Michael has worked in finance for almost 25 years in Copenhagen, London and New York, starting with about ten years at Saxo Bank.
Michael founded Kompasbank in 2018; it received its banking licence in 2021 and began onboarding customers on 1 January 2022.
Kompasbank serves small and mid-sized enterprises.
Kompasbank's values are agility, commitment and impact.
Kompasbank has raised money continuously from 2018–19 through 2025 and has around 65–80 people.
Kompasbank builds its technology to change rather than to last, owning the customer and experience while assembling technology from third parties.
Around 2015–16, incumbents dismissed new banks while millions of customers moved to them, and technology finally made composable banking possible.
Investors should not expect solo founders to reach tens of millions in revenue; capital does most good at later stages.
The Nordics are three to five years ahead of other European markets on digitisation and one to two years ahead on AI adoption.
Financial services need several strong players, not one winner, for resilience, choice and innovation.
In three to five years, blockchain, tokenised assets and stablecoins, and the apps built on them, will be mainstream in payments.
Rather than predict every risk, banks should identify their breaking points and build buffers and alerts before them.
Questions and answers
Why build an SME bank?
Incumbents ignored the customers leaving for new banks, technology was ready, and Michael grew up around SMEs.
How do you scale a team?
Align on values first, and accept that some people thrive at ten people and others at a thousand.
What is Michael's advice to founders?
Make sure your family and closest people support you; the tools and capital will come.