FinLeap Insights: Our Highlights 2017
A year full of great news and achievements for FinLeap is now coming to an end. Let’s look back on the whirlwind that has been 2017. We welcomed the two new ventures ELEMENTand Perseus, moved into our brand new office at Fintech Hub H:32 (which you can still be part of, but more on that later) and successfully realised many more ideas & projects. Our ecosystem has grown to twelve ventures with more than 500 great employees, and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. With this newsletter, we would like to share our most memorable highlights of 2017 as well as the latest news from our venture PAIR Finance and from Fintech Hub H:32.
And, most importantly, we want to thank all of you for supporting us! We hope 2017 has exceeded your expectations and brought success and joyfulness.
We wish you a Happy Holiday and a Fabulous New Year!
FinLeap News
PAIR Finance collects €4.5m and wins new, strategic investors
PAIR Finance, our digital claims management company, has raised an impressive €4.5m in series A equity capital from several investors, among which are Zalando. PAIR Finance will use the new apital for the expansion of its automated and data-based machine learning technology and a fresh marketing strategy.
Europe’s biggest Fintech Hub
The community at H:32, the Fintech Hub Berlin, is growing at lightning speed. Alongside FinLeap, many of its ventures and other groundbreaking companies are settling into the building. We are looking forward to welcoming many new neighbours in the coming year, but as space is filling up fast you had better be quick if you want to join us and be part of this exciting ecosystem.
FinLeap Highlights 2017
Spring Highlights
ELEMENT is born and solarisBank gets fresh money and a new CEO
In March, ELEMENT arrived: here to change the insurance industry for good, ELEMENT is the first technology platform that establishes a business as licensed risk taker in the areas of liability and accident insurance. Moreover, our venture solarisBank raises €26.3m from various investors and welcomes its new CEO, Roland Folz.
MoneyMap and Clark announcing new partnerships
MoneyMap, the personal finance and contract manager, announced its first partnership in April with a bank, HVB, quickly followed later in September by Berliner Sparkasse. Clark, the digital insurance broker, also onboarded their first partner banks ING Diba and PSD Bank Hannover, with N26 and NIBC Direkt and DKB Deutsche Kreditbank AG joining soon after.
Summer Highlights
Two licenses and €2m crowdinvesting
In June, there was quite a bit happening! Our venture Elinvar got its BaFin-licence and made a major leap by announcing its first partner: one of the leading German private banks M.M. Warburg. Zinsbaustein.de, the real estate crowdinvesting platform, also broke a personal record, raising more than €2m for a project for the first time: “Wave” luxury apartments in Berlin-Friedrichshain. Not forgetting BillFront, the digital media enabler, who is stepping into the German market with a license from solarisBank. Their first transaction: €7.5m financing for a customer.
The big move
In July, FinLeap moved into the Fintech Hub H:32 at Hardenbergstraße 32, initiating a new era in our Fintech ecosystem. In the same month, FinLeap closed its financing round at €39m, attracting old and new investors. FinReach has travelled abroad, entering Austria through its partnership with Raiffeisen Bank Österreich and becoming the market leader with over 500 banks using the account switch kit.
All safe in the cyberworld
Perseus launched in September, as the first cybersecurity club for SMEs. Fulfilling the demands of cyber security for small and medium-sized enterprises, Perseus is set to become a hot club in the Fintech scene.
Autumn Highlights
Benvenuto, FinLeap Milan!
Autumn was jam-packed with success. FinLeap opened its first satellite office, FinLeap Milan, lead by Marco Berini, to accelerate FinLeap’s internationalization and be the first touchpoint in Italy for FinLeap ventures interested in this market. ELEMENT received its BaFin-licence, FinLeap and Elinvar became members of the Association of German Banks and Clark launched its ”retirement cockpit”, a comprehensive retirement solution.
Winter Highlights
The network growing women in Fintech
The initiative Fintech Ladies Europe, founded by FinLeap Managing Partner Dr. Carolin Gabor, is growing with the aim of bringing together women in the fintech sector. Great news: Carolin is now listed in “Women in Fintech”-Power list by Innovate Finance.