Norway's consumer finance expert Silje Sandmæl is restarting her business after the bankruptcy of her company Pengefix, which listed debts of 300,625 kroner. The digital financial health service for businesses, which aimed to help employees manage personal finances, was declared bankrupt on January 28th following a petition from the company itself. Sandmæl, who owned 50 percent and served as board chair, attributes the collapse solely to an internal disagreement over the ownership structure.
“What happened on our end is that we couldn't agree on the ownership structure,” Sandmæl said. “That makes it hard to justify injecting more capital. When you can't reach an agreement, it simply happens that you have to close the company and start over.”
A Dispute Over Ownership
Court-appointed administrator Ida Kollenborg Pettersson confirmed the company had no assets or employees, and its operations were already suspended when bankruptcy proceedings began. The relatively contained debt figure points to a venture in its early stages rather than a large-scale operational failure. Sandmæl started as an independent entrepreneur just last year after nearly 25 years working in banking, launching Pengefix as her first solo venture.
Faced with the impasse with her co-owner, Sandmæl described a pragmatic, if stark, choice. “When you don't reach an agreement, you're practically left with two options. You can either let the process drag on and spend a lot of time and money on it, or you have to make a choice. For me, this is my livelihood. This is what I've been passionate about my whole life – helping people. I don't have time to wait any longer,” she explained.
The Path Forward Under a New Name
Sandmæl is now launching a new company to continue the same core service. She emphasizes a clean transition, stating that all existing customers have been informed and operations will continue uninterrupted, with only the name on the contract changing. Crucially, she has committed to covering the bankrupt company's debts personally. “I am very keen that suppliers get their money, and I will therefore arrange for this through private funds,” Sandmæl said.
Her ambitions for the new entity are significantly scaled up. “I want an international name, because the plan is to go global in about three years,” she stated. This pivot suggests the bankruptcy represents a strategic reset rather than an abandonment of the business concept. The service itself, a corporate benefit offering tools for employee financial wellness, remains intact.
Building a Team on a New Foundation
A key aspect of the fresh start involves formalizing her team. During Pengefix's operation, Sandmæl worked with voluntary partners who believed in the mission. “Everyone working here now doesn't actually get a salary. We work because we are passionate about helping people,” she noted. The new company structure is designed to change that. “Now that we are starting under a new name and can begin to generate revenue, and the ownership structure is in place, the plan is of course to hire these people in April,” Sandmæl said.
This move from a passion-driven collective to a formally employed staff under a clear ownership framework is a direct response to the issues that felled the previous venture. It highlights a common challenge for mission-driven startups: translating shared enthusiasm into a sustainable, legally sound business operation.
A Fresh Start in a Familiar Field
The bankruptcy of Pengefix closes one brief chapter in Silje Sandmæl's long career in finance, but the next one is already being written. By personally settling the debts and retaining the service model and team, she is attempting to preserve the venture's value while discarding its flawed structure. Her story is a pointed lesson in the importance of alignment among founders, a factor that can be as critical to survival as any product-market fit. As she relaunches, the Norwegian market will be watching to see if this reset provides the stable platform needed to achieve her three-year goal of taking a homegrown financial wellness concept to the world.