Setting a global footprint is no easy task. Malmö based fintech company Crunchfish has taken on the challenge; to change the way we pay forever, with its solution for digital cash. As with all innovative and growing companies Crunchfish needs to be nimble, swift and quick-witted – while maintaining good health and energy levels amongst employees. A key factor in helping them to stay strong is Biocentric lighting by BrainLit.
–Working at Crunchfish is intense right now. I sleep less than normal as there is so much to do. Biocentric lighting keeps me alert during the workdays, and in the evenings, it helps me to quickly fall asleep. Then I wake up feeling rested, ready to take on another day. Those focused morning hours keep me ahead of the game, Joachim Samuelsson the CEO explains.
Crunchfish offers digital solutions in different areas such as food waste and gesture control for smart glasses, but the main focus area is digital cash. The business model for their Digital Cash Wallet is Software as a Service where digital wallet providers or card issuers embed the Digital Cash Wallet into their payment service, enabling digital payments with the same properties as paying with cash – instant, offline and even private. When he first met BrainLit CEO Niclas Möttus Olsson, the idea of BrainLit providing Health as a Service was born.
Driven by innovation
-Niclas was so passionate about his mission to increase general health for everyone working indoors through recreating the conditions of natural daylight, I was immediately convinced to try the system for ourselves. But for a scaleup company still developing its products, taking money to pay for the system was not my preferred option, so we started talking about using it as Health as a Service instead. We considered leasing, but in the end, our landlord Wihlborgs made the investment, Joachim Samuelsson says.
The Crunchfish office is situated in the thriving old harbor area of Malmö, in the Media Evolution City building, a modern co-working space established in 2012 in an old factory building. The 1,100 square meter office is branded The Penthouse and spans the entire fourth floor. Crunchfish sublets parts of the space to five other tenants.
– Now, our office space is like one big dynamic light shower. We are all much more alert and feel better.
One third of the area is occupied by Crunchfish itself. This has been fully equipped with Biocentric lighting, but it is also one of the first installations to utilize the personal settings of the new BrainLit Alven. The Biocentric lighting system is also installed in the open shared area and in the office of Pej, one of the other tenants at The Penthouse, where Joachim Samuelsson was an early investor and serves as a member of the board.
– Our landlord Wihlborgs paid for the installation and charges for it as part of our rental agreement. That is a great deal for everyone. We enjoy better Health as a Service without making a capital investment, and Wihlborgs raises the value of the office space. That is the preferred way for us as we will not take the installation with us if we move, Joachim Samuelsson says.
Today, Crunchfish has 25 employees, about half of them programmers. Their task is to develop future technology in diverse areas such as Digital Cash, Food Waste and Gesture Control, which require high levels of concentration.
A healthier work environment
-You would previously feel your mind starting to slack during the afternoon, Samuelsson says. You kept looking at your watch and wondering when it was time to go home. Since we installed Biocentric lighting, that doesn’t happen anymore. Now, our office space is like one big dynamic light shower. We are all much more alert and feel better. The slightly increased monthly rent is well worth being more efficient and healthier.
Crunchfish has been traded on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market since 2016 and was recently valued at one billion Swedish crowns, around 100 million euros. However, Joachim Samuelsson thinks there is a lot of untapped potential with the company since they are pioneering several fields.
–What we are doing is changing the world, just like BrainLit, he concludes.
