Triple-A investors invest in internationalization of German data-driven micro-lending platform

Kredito OFS GmbH / Key word(s): Capital Increase

28.06.2012 / 11:32

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* Michael Brehm, Stefan Glaenzer, Point Nine Capital, Greycrop invest,
while Heiko Hubertz and Felix Haas increase their stake in the online
micro-credit start-up
* Kredito is preparing to release its real-time big data scoring technology
in various international markets in Q3 2012.

The young Hamburg-based start-up Kredito (www.kredito.de) attracts further
prominent investors; Michael Brehm, Stefan Glänzer and Point Nine Capital,
Grey Corp (Jan Becker, Robert Wuttke, Andreas Etten), and Timon Hartung's
121WATT have invested in the platform. Kredito, which had well known
investors right from the beginning with Felix Haas, CEO and founder of
Amiando, Heiko Hubertz, Digital Pioneers N.V, as well as the YoungBrains
GmbH of Nils Holger Henning, thereby sets the course for further business
expansion. Hubertz, Haas and Henning are likewise increasing their shares.

Kredito is a German start-up that applies big data in the online validation
of identities & age (Zertifikato) and credit scoring (Kredito). Parallel to
the integration with a German bank, Kredito will be launching in further
European markets within the next quarter. The fact that, for the first
time, so many renowned European investors are jointly involved in the
increase of capital shows that there is a considerable potential for growth
in these segments.

Sebastian Diemer, CEO of Kredito and Zertifikato.com says: 'We are very
happy to have gained the trust of these A-league investors. Kredito is a
first step in disrupting the financial industry, which hasn't undergone the
structural changes we have seen in nearly all other industries. Financial
services, in most countries, are still based on offline transactions,
subjective decisions and very little amount of data. Banks in most
countries move slowly when applying innovation within their businesses to
meet customer demands. The reason for this is simple. The business model
still functions, as regulation limits competition and thus the need for
innovation. The technology we have built will lower transaction costs for
the financial industry, while generating higher value for the customer.
It's a win-win situation.'

Michael Brehm was chief executive at studiVZ. As a business angel, he has
since invested Europe-wide in internet start-ups such as brands4friends and
kaufDA, which were sold to eBay and Axel Springer respectively. In 2010,
Brehm, in corporation with Rebate networks, founded a company operating
Daily-Deal websites around the world and has already sold subsidiaries to
Google (DailyDeal) and LivingSocial. 'I'm always interested in fresh ideas.
The business models of Kredito has convinced me through the vision of
applying big data to personal finance', explains Brehm when speaking of his
decision to engage in the venture.

Stefan Glänzer is co-founder of the online auction house ricardo.de where
he had been engaged as CBO until 2000. Between 2004 and 2007 he was
executive chairman at last.fm, until the sell-off to CBS. He is currently
active as founder and partner at the White Bear Yard business association.
In the same functions, Glänzer specialized in technology ventures and
internet start-ups with the holding company Passion Capital. He reasons his
investment as follows: 'Kredito addresses people who are facing financial
short term difficulties and want to bridge those in an unbureaucratic and
swift manner. Anybody who is familiar with these kinds of situations
recognizes the true value of Kredito's service.'

The early-phase investor Point Nine Capital from Berlin is internationally
active and owns a portfolio of over 20 firms. These include for example
Madvertise, a marketplace for mobile online advertisement, the Food
Delivery service 'Lieferheld', the monetization platform SponsorPay and
DaWanda, being the online marketplace for Unicum. Pawel Chudzinski, the
manager of Point Nine Capital says: 'We invest in innovative and thrilling
concepts which are new and did not previously exist on the German market. '

At the moment Kredito is reorganizing its system in Germany as it enters a
co-operation with a bank, to be able to offer an even better service to its
customers and issue a larger volume loans. Processing loans of up to 400
EUR within 15 minutes, Kredito lies in a segment which is usually not
serviced by the conservative banking system. This means that customers can
overcome temporary short term financial difficulties and receive their
money much faster compared to existing competitors. The real-time
validation of up to 7000 data points per application implies a considerable
reduction of cost and speed in scoring, while a methodologically sound
technology ensures data protection and scalability.

Kredito was launched in February this year. Sebastian Diemer, as CEO and
founder is responsible for the strategic development and the marketing. The
co-founder and CTO Alexander Graubner-Müller is responsible for the risk
management. In 2011 Diemer and Graubner-Müller founded Gigalocal, an online
marketplace.


End of Corporate News

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