Zelf, a messenger-based neobank targeting Generation Z, has raised $2 million in a pre-seed funding round led by 3VC.
Seed Х, Hard Yaka, Yair Goldfinger, the co-founder of ICQ and UK angel investor Chris Adelsbach joined the round.
Zelf lets customers get a digital card ad Iban account within 30 seconds and then use them to send and receive money via instant messengers like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram and Viber.
An AI-powered voice control system also allows users to request money, send invoices, check account activity, and more.
Based in Latvia, Zelf arrived in France last August, with its Mastercard cards already used by tens of thousands of people.
It now plans to use the funding to grow in Spain, Germany, Poland and Italy, as well as to establish a presence in the UK and US.
Elliot Goykhman, CEO, Zelf, says: "We are confident that our business model of eliminating cumbersome banking apps as well as physical plastic cards will prove to be the winning strategy."