Signicat appoints new CEO and Chairman to accelerate international growth

Signicat, a leader in verified digital identity solutions, is bringing in new expertise and capabilities to help accelerate its international expansion. Johan Tjärnberg, special advisor at Ingenico Group and previous CEO of Bambora, has been appointed as new Chairman and Asger Hattel, previous CEO and Head of Nets Merchant Services, is being appointed as new CEO. Gunnar Nordseth, current CEO and co-founder of Signicat, will remain as a shareholder and transition into a senior business development role. 

“Signicat is on a fast-growing journey to expand internationally and further strengthen its position in the Nordic and broader international markets. We founded this company with a grand vision, and I am very proud of what we as a team have achieved up until today. We have now come to a phase where I want to hand over the leadership reins to a leader with greater experience in international expansion, and in scaling the business to the benefit of current and future customers. I will continue to be committed to Signicat as shareholder and I am looking forward to work closely with Asger, focusing on innovation and business development”, says Gunnar Nordseth, CEO of Signicat. 

“Born from the most advanced digital identity market in the world, Signicat is a recognised leader in one of the most exciting and fast-growing technology areas globally. A warm thanks to Gunnar and his experienced management team that have succeeded in achieving this strong market position. As majority owner, Nordic Capital is enthusiastic about supporting Signicat’s continued growth and bringing a unique experience of international expansion by the appointment of Johan and Asger,” says Fredrik Näslund, Partner, Nordic Capital Advisors. 

Asger Hattel has more than 20 years of experience from companies in financial services, technology and telecom. He previously held a position as Group Executive Vice President at Nets, where he, as CEO for the Merchant Services business with his team, built Nets into a Northern European leader. Earlier he worked as Executive Vice President and Head of TDC’s Nordic and Wholesale business. He will start as new CEO of Signicat on January 8th, 2020. 

Johan Tjärnberg, the newly appointed Chairman of Signicat, has a proven track record in building strong global fintech businesses, previously holding positions as CEO of Bambora and EVP of the Ingenico Group’s Retail Business Unit. At year-end he took up a role as Special Advisor to the Ingenico Group and during 2020 he will join the Board of Ingenico.  

These two appointments strengthen Signicat’s organisation and position the company to accelerate its international expansion as the leading digital identity solution in Europe with a unique ability to help clients solve their digital identity challenges.

“Both Asger and Johan have deep experience from international growth within the fintech industry. Viking Venture is looking forward to working closely with them in order to support the next phase of making Signicat the European leader in identity as a service”, commented Jostein Vik, partner of Viking Venture and board member of Signicat. 

“We would like to thank Gunnar for a successful partnership for more than a decade, a period in which substantial shareholder value was created. With Gunnar as CEO and founder, the company became market leader in the Nordics and is now in pole position to become the European leader within identity as a service”, Mr. Vik added.

Signicat was founded in Trondheim, Norway in 2007 and is a pioneer and technology-leader within verified digital identity solutions in Europe. The company offers compliant, secure and user-friendly online authentication, identification verification and electronic signature solutions that reduce risk while enhancing the user experience. Viking Venture has backed Signicat since 2008 and is still a significant shareholder.

About Signicat  
Signicat is a pioneering, pan-European digital identity company with an unrivalled track record in the world’s most advanced digital identity markets. Its Digital Identity Platform incorporates the most extensive suite of identity verification and authentication systems in the world, all accessible through a single integration point. The platform supports the full identity journey, from recognition and on-boarding, through login and consent, to making business agreements which stand the test of time.

For further information about Signicat, please visit www.signicat.com