November 1, 2024
In the summer of 2024, we met a highly eager team that was determined to fill a huge gap in the German market. We invested in Berlin-based UnitPlus, a fintech company revolutionising how individuals and SMEs access higher yields on their cash through capital market returns.
UnitPlus is the first company in Germany to offer businesses of all sizes secure, simple, and flexible access to money market instruments - investment opportunities which were previously only accessible to large corporations with extensive financial resources. UnitPlus Business is designed to help companies optimise their liquidity, reflecting current interest rates and strengthening financial reserves to support long-term growth and operational success.
Additionally, UnitPlus addresses the inefficiency in the European savings market, where most of the €7.4 trillion in savings earns negligible interest at traditional banks. UnitPlus addresses this fundamental inefficiency by offering significantly higher yields compared to incumbent banks, solving a clear pain point faced by millions of savers.
Their CashPlus product is a "capital market powered checking account" for retail customers which leverages money market funds to provide better returns while maintaining the flexibility and security that customers need for their everyday banking. They recently also launched the CashPlus SME solution - built out in collaboration with leading financial institutions including Goldman Sachs - provides access to institutional-grade money market funds typically reserved for large corporations, offering higher yields and improved security through global diversification.
UnitPlus will use the investment to continue building out their suite of products for SMEs including a Capital Markets CFO as many companies lack both the knowledge for efficient treasury management and access to capital market solutions. The Capital Market CFO provides businesses with actionable insights into liquidity management and offers tailored treasury solutions for different time horizons.
Experienced Founders
UnitPlus has achieved remarkable growth since our investment, with Assets under Management (AuM) increasing by 130% and the customer base expanding by 60%. Driven by the company's exceptional founding team which combines diverse and complementary expertise in asset management, finance, and technology.
At the helm of UnitPlus, Fabian Mohr (CEO) brings a wealth of experience from his time managing €2 billion AUM in the payment sector at Flossbach von Storch, one of Germany's leading asset management firms. Meanwhile Kerstin Schneider (CFO) contributes valuable financial services consultancy experience from her seven-year tenure at Zeb. Her strong operational background complements Fabian's product focus, creating an effective partnership with clearly defined roles. Sebastien Segue (CTO) completes the team with over 15 years of software engineering experience, including key roles at BillPay and Klarna. His deep understanding of payment platform engineering underpins the company's commitment to building a secure and reliable financial infrastructure.
Impact Beyond Returns
The European savings market is fundamentally underserved as the traditional banking sector offers poor yields on €7.4 trillion in European savings, creating an enormous market opportunity ripe for disruption. UnitPlus' modern, high-yield account with fast onboarding addresses pain points that incumbent banks are slow to solve, positioning them to capture healthy market share. By democratising financial products previously inaccessible to everyday savers and small businesses, thus leaving huge sums on the table, Unitplus aligns perfectly with our Access theme.
Beyond financial returns, UnitPlus creates meaningful impact by protecting savings from inflation erosion through higher yields and providing SMEs with tools previously reserved for large corporations. They improve financial literacy for both retail and business customers while strengthening the financial health of the SME sector, the backbone of European economies.
As we look ahead, we're excited to support Fabian, Kerstin, Sebastien and the entire UnitPlus team in their mission to provide better yields for everyone through innovative capital market solutions. Their user-friendly approach to democratising financial products has the potential to transform how millions of Europeans and their businesses manage their cash and short-term investments.