Plus1, the Swedish debt consolidation fintech that helps consumers combine multiple loans into single, lower-cost repayments, has appointed ex-Klarna Director Rasmus Rolén as Chief Executive Officer to lead its European expansion. 

This appointment comes at a crucial time for Plus1, a portfolio company under financial services venture builder and investor 0TO9, following its rebrand from Nstart last year. The fintech helps users cut their monthly repayments by an average of €435*.

Plus1 is already operating in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway, with Rolén’s immediate focus to explore expanding into Germany, Poland, and Southern Europe.

Strengthening European Consumer Credit

Rolén’s time at Klarna, one of Europe’s most successful tech companies, shaped his understanding of modern credit. He led the biggest finance and analytics team at Klarna before becoming Chief Executive Officer of Avarda, which in 2024 merged with TF Bank, with the combined entity rebranded as Avarda Bank. As Chief Commercial Officer and a member of Executive Management, he oversaw the credit card and e-commerce segments across the Nordics, Germany, Austria, Spain, and Italy.

Rolén’s priority is scaling Plus1 across Europe, bringing its debt consolidation model into new markets and expanding its customer base. His goal is to make sustainable debt consolidation accessible to the millions of Europeans currently stuck in high-cost credit arrangements and experiencing financial distress. 

Tackling the ‘Ostrich Economy’

Six-time fintech founder Oliver Hildebrandt built Plus1 to address what the company calls ‘strutsekonomi’ - Swedish for ‘ostrich economy’ - the pattern where households bury their heads in the sand on finances, postpone hard decisions, and watch fees and interest pile up. 

Sweden is among the most indebted consumer markets globally, with Swedish households carrying total debt exceeding €460 billion (SEK 5 trillion), of which around €93.5 billion (SEK 1 trillion) relates to non-mortgage debt. Roughly one-third of consumer credit customers received a debt collection notice in 2024, and new invoice credit grew 60% between 2020 and 2024 - twice the pace of household consumption.

But this problem is not the preserve of Sweden alone. Last year, the European Banking Authority flagged consumer indebtedness as one of the three most pressing issues facing EU consumers, citing the growth of BNPL and short-term credit as a key driver. It is a trend not only Sweden but Europe as a whole has grappled with for over a decade, and one that Plus 1 is directly positioned to address at scale. 

Rasmus Rolén, CEO of Plus1, said: “After years of working within consumer credit, I’ve seen how quickly manageable debt can become a destructive spiral that people can’t escape. Oliver built Plus1 for the moments when life gets messy. There is a real market opportunity for products that put responsibility first. I’m joining to make resolving debt just as seamless as taking it on in the first place.”

Oliver Hildebrandt, Founder of Plus1 and 0TO9, comments: “Since founding Plus1 over a decade ago, my focus has been on tackling the root causes of financial instability, not treating the symptoms. With Plus1, we’re building a market around sustainable repayment and genuine support, and Rasmus is the right leader to scale that vision across Europe.”