Lunar co-founder and CTO exit, in cost-cutting move

Danish challenger bank Lunar has been hit by a string of executive departures including its co-founder and CTO, as it looks to cut management costs and become profitable in the long term.

Peter Andreasen, Lunar’s co-founder and chief investment officer, and Kåre Kjelstrøm, the CTO (chief technology officer) of Lunar, have both left. The two executives are understood to have left in the past few weeks.

Vibeke Bak Solok, the CEO of Lunar’s regulated entity, and Mats Persson Bergius, Lunar’s Swedish country manager and chief commercial officer, have also recently exited the challenger bank, which has over one million customers across the Nordics and was valued at around $2.2 billion in 2022.

Confirming the departures, Ken Villum Klausen, Lunar’s CEO and co-founder, said: “These changes reflect a deliberate shift as we move from a phase of rapid growth and expansion into one of operational maturity and profitability. 

“With that shift comes new demands on the business, and naturally, on the leadership team as well.

“As part of this transition, we’ve also decided to move to a smaller, more agile management team. That includes streamlining roles and responsibilities, which is why we no longer have a separate CEO for our regulated entity — that structure is no longer needed in our setup.”

Lunar is understood not to be currently full-year profitable. According to reports in Danish media, Lunar has also recently laid off an unknown number of employees in its bid to turn a profit. It also reportedly sold off virtually its entire loan portfolio last year.

Lunar’s backers include Heartland, Kinnevik, Tencent, IDC Ventures and comedian Will Ferrell. Lunar said replacements were already underway for the executives.