Frankfurt-based fintech Finanzguru, Germany’s leading open-banking enabled, holistic financial advisor, has raised €13 million led by new investors SCOR Ventures and PayPal Ventures, with participation from existing investors including Deutsche Bank, coparion, VR Ventures, Hannover Digital Investments, Venture Stars and former Postbank CEO Frank Strauss. This raise brings Finanzguru’s cumulative funding to €27 million since its launch in 2018. Finanzguru will use the funding to accelerate profitable growth in Germany, as well as to further expand its product platform. The company will also significantly strengthen its current team of 70 employees.
In 2022, Finanzguru tripled its revenues and is now generating annualized revenues of over €10 million. In addition, the company achieved operational break-even, excluding its growth marketing efforts. Alexander Michel, co-founder and co-CEO of Finanzguru, said, "We have broken new ground with our financial advice products, which are based on a digital analysis of each customer’s payment transactions and unique financial situation. Our already strong growth shows that our products are resonating with customers, and we are now focused on expanding our insurance and pension business.”
Benjamin Michel, co-founder and co-CEO of Finanzguru, said, "By adding personal financial advice as an offering in the Finanzguru app, we are meeting a real need in the German consumer market. This has allowed us to greatly expand our business over the past 18 months. We are pleased to be able to continue to drive growth with the support of two new high-profile investors".
Will Thorne, Head of SCOR Ventures, added, "SCOR Ventures invests in innovative companies solving risk for individuals, businesses, and our planet. We believe Finanzguru has a unique opportunity to support financial resiliency and community wellbeing by offering products that close the care and protection gap for all users."
Alexandros Bottenbruch, Principal at PayPal Ventures, commented, “Finanzguru has pioneered a data-driven, open banking solution that democratizes access to financial well-being by removing complexity from personal financial management. We're excited to support Finanzguru on the next stage of their journey as they work to ensure that everyone, regardless of background or economic standing, can take control of their financial lives.”
Initially launched in 2018 as a pure multibanking app, in recent years Finanzguru has expanded into an independent platform that allows its customers to manage all of their banking accounts and contracts. Since mid-2021, the company has also offered its customers independent advice on insurance and financial products based on a digital analysis of their banking data, which can be accessed in a state-of-the-art setting by phone or video chat.
Finanzguru has grown to more than 1.5 million registered users and is Germany's fastest growing financial startup in terms of downloads. More than 100,000 of the app's users are already utilizing Finanzguru’s brokerage services and buying financial and insurance products. Given that Finanzguru’s customers have already linked their bank accounts to the app, they are able to receive personalized, in-depth financial advice based on an analyses of their bank data, and can purchase insurance policies without any additional administrative effort.