Interview with the co-founders of zinsbaustein.de

By Dara Lazarova | June 8th, 2016
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  • FinLeap’s newest venture zinsbaustein.de has been launched with hopes to create lucrative asset classes for everyone by combining the internet industry with the traditional one. Not only is our venture a platform for exclusive projects which gives retail investors access to new investments and enables them to quickly create a portfolio, but is also a provider for raising capital for real estate developers. Moreover, FinLeap’s venture has already succeeded in launching its first project on May 9th and closing it just a few days after.

    Co-founders zinsbaustein.de

    Today, we talked to zinsbaustein.de’s founders Steffen Harting and Matthias Lissner about the idea behind the venture, the milestones during the creation, their business solution, and the FinLeap network.

    Matthias Lissner zinsbaustein.de

    FinLeap.com: What triggered the creation of zinsbaustein?

    Steffen: We wanted to find new ways to give retail investors access to lucrative asset classes. The real estate sector, especially, is a very popular asset class in Germany due to the low interest rates and uncertainty in investments.

    Matthias: We simply wish to provide new ways for people to invest their money.

    FinLeap.com: What were the most important steps in the creation of the venture?

    Steffen: The first milestone was building the team and finding the key people. Then, we had to go through all the regulatory requirements and obtain a commercial license. Afterwards, we built the platform and launched in three months.

    FinLeap.com: Could you describe a typical business solution zinsbaustein.de will provide?

    Steffen: We are a mixture of Fintech and Proptech. From the Fintech perspective, we provide investment products for retail investors, giving them access to new asset classes with attractive interest rates and short-duration products.

    Matthias: From the Proptech perspective, we provide project developers with an alternative source of financing which will become very important in a more challenging market environment. The end value we achieve is great visibility for the product as we are involved in the PR and marketing for the projects.

    FinLeap.com: How does the business model work?

    Matthias: On one side, we have the real estate investors and on the other - the project developers. They need to obtain a large loan (usually a combination between many smaller loans) to support the financing of the project.

    Finlap Steffen HartingSteffen: Basically, we deal with the communication, payment, and legal processes to reduce the complexity for the project developers.

    FinLeap.com: What is your favorite part of being a member of the FinLeap family?

    Steffen: For a heavily regulated business like ours, FinLeap provides the adequate resources from a legal, administrative, and technological side. The company builder enabled us to launch in a very short period of time while getting the support, advice, and network needed.

    Matthias: Also, all the other ventures contribute to a great amount of knowledge that is easily acquired from our side.

    FinLeap.com: What gives you the competitive edge?

    Steffen: We have experienced real estate developers and asset managers from our partner Sontowski & Partner Group combined with strong expertise in real estate and digital services from our team. We, also, have FinLeap as a successful digital company builder behind our back as well as the advisory board that supports us which includes Marc Stilke who is the former CEO of Immobilienscout 24 and Eric Romba who is Managing Director at bsi.

    FinLeap.com: Do you have any advice for other Fintechs?

    Steffen: Regulations in the Fintech industry is so complex that people need to prepare extremely well.

    Matthias: Yes, never try to take the easy way out, but instead make sure everything is in order. Also, the right partners and advisers make all the difference in being successful.

    FinLeap.com: How does zinsbaustein.de differ from your past experiences?

    Matthias: We are able to take the strengths of two different industries and combine them into a great product that opens an entirely new market.

    Steffen: FinLeap provides for an encouraging and fruitful relationship between many different Fintech companies that have found solutions to similar problems in the past. It is an environment filled with great expertise aiming to conquer the same challenges.

    FinLeap.com: What are some goals for the venture in the future?

    Steffen: We want to make more asset classes for retail investors available. Therefore, we will have different products for different market situations and enable people to gain more control over their investments.

    FinLeap.com: What impact will zinsbaustein.de have on the real estate industry?

    Matthias: It will create more competition to existing solutions which should drive down barriers and create an incentive to offer more value to clients. It should also increase the transparency amongst marketplaces and force more traditional businesses to operate on the same level.

    zinsbaustein.de logo

    Dara Lazarova