The founder and boss of Raisin wants to tap investors for fresh capital. The company benefits from the turnaround in interest rates.
(Photo: Uta Wagner for Handelsblatt)
Frankfurt According to financial circles, the Berlin financial start-up Raisin is in the process of collecting fresh funds from investors. However, the exact scope of the financing round, which is in the final stages, has not yet been determined, according to several people familiar with the matter.
Raisin could earn 50 million euros or more, the insiders say. The valuation of the company could rise to at least 1.5 billion euros. Raisin declined to comment on the matter.
In view of the current reluctance of many venture capitalists, the conclusion of this financing round for the interest rate and investment platform would be a success. With the “Weltsparen” brand, Raisin is one of the few fintechs to benefit directly from the turnaround in interest rates. Many consumers are now looking for higher-interest overnight and fixed-term deposits again.
The company was founded in 2013 by Tamaz Georgadze, who continues to manage Raisin. Currently, the sum that investors have invested through Raisin is 36 billion euros. Four percent of this is in the investment division, i.e. in ETFs. This is a significant increase: in June 2022 it was still 25 billion euros.
Private customers can use “Weltsparen” and “Zinspilot” to invest money in banks in other EU countries that pay relatively high interest rates. Raisin also offers investments in exchange-traded index funds (ETFs), ETF savings plans and, for example, cryptocurrencies. Raisin himself earns through commissions.
36 billion euros invested via Raisin
Raisin is silent on his business figures – as well as on the valuation. When the company merged with its competitor Deposit Solutions a year and a half ago, the company was probably worth well over a billion euros. The financial start-up received money from several well-known US venture capitalists and the investment bank Goldman Sachs.
With the current round of financing, Raisin is underpinning its status as a “unicorn,” it said. This is what startups with a valuation of more than one billion dollars are called.
According to media reports, Raisin collected around 30 million euros via a convertible loan at the beginning of last year. In the meantime, due to dwindling growth opportunities and inflated expectations, many fintechs have had to lower their valuations, either internally or publicly in the course of financing rounds. The Swedish flagship fintech Klarna, for example, had to accept a decline of 85 percent in the summer.
Little money due to difficult conditions
Last year, the war in Ukraine, high inflation and the turnaround in interest rates also put German fintechs under a lot of pressure. They were able to collect around 2.5 billion euros from investors in just 81 financing rounds. This is shown by figures from the analysis company Barkow Consulting and Comdirect. For comparison: in 2021, the local fintechs completed 181 financing rounds and collected a total of around 4.6 billion euros.
Nevertheless, there are some German fintechs that were able to convince investors and complete large financing rounds last year.
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