Haufe Group takes stake in German challenger bank Kontist
Haufe Group has provided an undisclosed amount of Series A funding and acquired a stake in Berlin-based challenger banking app Kontist.
Haufe offers enterprise management and accounting for small and midsize businesses (SMBs) and freelancers with its Lexware brand.
Amount of funding not disclosed
Markus Reithwiesner, holding director Haufe Group, says: “With our stake in Kontist, we’re taking another step forward for our customers – toward automating all their business processes and meeting their tax requirements. Entrepreneurs and freelancers no longer have to separate accounting and banking. Instead, they can manage their processes and their company just-in-time through a single platform solution.”
According to Kontist there are almost 4.3 million SMBs and a growing freelancer community in Germany.
The two partners’ first task together will be a technical integration of the online accounting software Lexoffice and the Kontist bank account. Users will then get automated accounting, a real-time estimate of tax payments due, and an integrated Mastercard for expenditure management.
They are also setting up a co-creation lab to develop digital products and are looking for more partners for this project.
Kontist has previously received €5 million in seed financing from Founders, a Danish company builder, and the Danish growth fund VœkstFonden.
The firm was co-founded in early 2016 by Christopher Plantener (CEO), Alexander Baatz, Sebastian Galonska and Madison Bell.
It is a partner of solarisBank, which holds a full banking licence.
The German challenger banking scene is almost as lively as a Berlin nightclub – check out the action and the list of banks here.
