Just a year ago, the startup Solarisbank, which offers itself as a bank partner to digital companies and especially fintechs, was launched. With a full banking license, the company is a lot more advance than most young startups. Not surprisingly, Solarisbank's customer base is growing steadily.
Among its customers, the car loan company AutoScout, paid.de, Penta and the banking app Kontist. According to Solarisbank CEO Marko Wenthin, the demand is so strong that the company cannot meet all requests. Wenthin further explained the startup’s plan to create an App Store for bank products. The customers of the company can connect their service accordingly, for example ID-Now or a scoring service. This idea also place the startup ahead of its competitors.
The investors
With a new round of financing, Solarisbank has reached the next growth step, collecting a total of 26.3 million. Investors range from the SBI Group, a Japanese fintech investor, to Arvato Financial Solutions, a subsidiary of Bertelsmann. In addition, the old investors Hegus, Yabeo and Finleap have participated in this round. Even the HypoVereinsbank parent Unicredit has participated in the financing.
The next steps
The money from this round of financing should be used to strengthen the current products of the company in existing markets. In addition, an expansion to Japan is already planned. For this Solarisbank will establish a joint venture with SBI in Japan. This will be an addition to the six European countries in which the company is currently active.
The team
A lot has also happened in the Solarisbank team. Roland Folz, who already has some banking experience, is now Chairman of the Board. Previously, he was CFO at Deutsche Bank and worked for DAB Bank, Mercedes-Benz Bank and Deutsche Telekom. At Solarisbank, he is now responsible for fundraising and strategy. His two board colleagues, however, are dedicated to the banking product itself. In order to meet the rapid growth and demand, the company now employs 85 people. There are further changes in the company's supervisory board. Jan Beckers, founder of Finleap and Hitfox, hands over his chairmanship to Gerrit Seidel of Yabeo Capital.
