Led · Seed · Apr 2020

Gapless develops an app and blockchain platform that enables users to build a complete history for any vehicle, positioning itself as the world's first blockchain platform for vehicle management. The company runs 'digital garages' and says it already manages more than 50,000 vehicles on its platform, with most users in the US, UK and Germany. Gapless is built on the EOSIO protocol developed by Block.one and plans to expand its user base and further develop the protocol integration. The startup aims to double its user base by the end of this year. Gapless has 20 employees and was part of the STARTUP AUTOBAHN accelerator program powered by Plug and Play. Porsche has been a strategic partner and financial backer since the company was founded in 2018.

Participated · Series A · Jun 2018

nextmarkets is a commission-free online broker that provides a stock exchange to trade shares and ETFs via a proprietary technology platform. The platform hosts professional investors, called coaches, who generate up to 300 curated investment ideas for users every month. Founded in 2014 by CEO Manuel Heyden and CTO Dominic Heyden, the company operates offices in Cologne, Lisbon and Malta and employs a team of 39. By the end of 2020 it had launched in Germany and Austria plus six additional countries: the United Kingdom, Portugal, the Netherlands, France, Spain and Italy. nextmarkets intends to use recent funding to further develop the platform and accelerate European expansion. The core product blends trading infrastructure with curated investment ideas from professional coaches. nextmarkets operates a platform that helps private investors trade by offering real-time coaching from 14 investment professionals who analyze over 1,000 markets and deliver trading ideas on web and mobile. The company supports trading across stocks, indices, foreign exchange, commodities and plans to add ETFs and crypto currencies. Led by CEO Manuel Heyden and CTO Dominic Heyden, nextmarkets has offices in Cologne and Malta and recently obtained a banking license in Malta. Financially, the company has raised €12m to date and is continuing to scale its product and commercial footprint. The latest funding will be used to drive dynamic growth across Europe and globally. The product focus and regulatory positioning (banking license) support its expansion plans.

Participated · Series B · Dec 2016

Kapilendo is a Berlin-based funding marketplace that operates a crowdfunding platform covering the full spectrum from crowd-investing to crowd-lending. It operates two brands: kapilendo credit, which provides low-priced, quick financing to small and medium-sized enterprises through investments from private individuals, and kapilendo venture, which offers startups access to growth financing from private investors. The platform is led by founder and CEO Christopher Králové. The company raised €7M in a Series B funding round. Kapilendo said it will use the funds to continue to expand operations.

Participated · Equity · Jul 2016

Deposit Solutions is a Hamburg-based fintech that operates an open banking platform enabling banks to offer third-party deposit products and source deposits for their balance sheets. Nearly 100 banks across 18 countries use its platform to either offer clients deposit products from other banks or to source deposits. The company said Deutsche Bank has acquired roughly a 4.9% stake in Deposit Solutions in a transaction reported to value the startup at about €1 billion, though terms were not disclosed and the company did not confirm the report. Deutsche Bank said the investment is financially driven to benefit from expected valuation growth rather than a strategic acquisition, and Deposit Solutions noted this is the first time a client has become a shareholder. Deposit Solutions previously completed a $100 million financing round a year earlier; the reported €1 billion mark would be roughly twice the valuation it fetched then. CEO Tim Sievers said the company is expanding internationally and is eyeing the United States in the coming months, and the startup has been used by Deutsche Bank since 2017 for its “Zinsmarkt” offering. Deposit Solutions provides a proprietary open banking technology platform that connects savings deposits across banks. Its platform already links more than 70 banks in 16 countries and it operates B2C points-of-sale ZINSPILOT and SAVEDO to market partner deposit offers directly to savers. The company was founded in 2011 by Tim Sievers and has additional offices in London, Zurich and Berlin. Deposit Solutions employs a team of about 250. The company intends to use new funds to continue developing and expanding the reach of its platform. The recent financing values the company at over $500 million. Deposit Solutions operates an Open Banking platform for savings deposits, offering APIs that allow banks to source deposits or offer partner banks' deposit products through a single master account. Led by CEO and founder Dr. Tim Sievers, the company was founded in 2011 and is based in Hamburg, Germany. It has partnered with more than 50 banks across 16 European countries, including Deutsche Bank and FFB, and markets selected deposit offers directly to savers via its retail channels Zinspilot and Savedo. The company runs subsidiaries with local offices in Berlin, London and Zurich and employs a team of more than 200 people. Deposit Solutions plans to use the new funding to accelerate growth and further international expansion of its platform. Deposit Solutions operates the first open-architecture platform for retail savings deposits in Europe, enabling banks to list deposit offers that other banks can market to their clients without requiring new accounts. The company also runs a B2C retail brand, ZINSPILOT, which is mediating more than €100 million of retail deposits per month. The platform has secured integrations with partners including Deutsche Bank, JDC Group, flatex and others, and has expanded into the UK and Switzerland. The business targets a roughly €9 trillion European retail deposits market and uses proprietary technology to connect banks and savers. Deposit Solutions will use the new funding to further develop its technology platform, expand its organizational structure and accelerate international roll-out; it plans to increase employees at its UK HQ and to launch its UK retail platform in 2017. The company’s valuation after the round is €110 million, up from prior investment activity including a €6.5 million round the previous year. Deposit Solutions operates an open architecture platform for retail deposits across Europe, based in Hamburg. Its proprietary technology enables product banks to list savings offers on the platform and allows client banks to market those offers to their customers without requiring new accounts. The company also operates a retail brand, ZINSPILOT, launched in 2014 to market platform-listed savings offers directly to German savers. In August 2016 Deposit Solutions raised €6.5M in funding to support growth. The company plans to use the funds for a European-wide rollout of ZINSPILOT. Deposit Solutions is led by founder Tim Sievers.