Alternative credit specialist ZAIS Group joins CAPTIQ

CAPTIQ has convinced another financing specialist with its business model: The US-based ZAIS Group is the largest external investor in the Frankfurt-based fintech start-up as part of a capital increase. Three other investors from the first round also participated in the second seed financing round, which raised just under half a million euros. The first digital financing platform for regulated professions (doctors, pharmacists, lawyers, etc.) has thus raised a total of around one million euros in equity this year.

CAPTIQ is developing the first alternative online financing solution tailored to the needs of regulated professions, the majority of which are freelancers. The business model is based on a B2B approach that integrates financial advisors and banks into the distribution model. 'We see the entry of ZAIS Group as further confirmation of the path we have chosen,' commented Soraya Braun, co-founder and CEO of CAPTIQ. ZAIS Group has been in the structured credit business for more than 20 years. With over $6 billion in assets under management, it is a heavyweight in the industry. 'With its many years of refinancing expertise, ZAIS Group brings strategic value to CAPTIQ as a shareholder and also potentially provides us with access to international markets,' added Co-Founder and Managing Director Lorenz Beimler.

CAPTIQ has completed its second round of financing to further accelerate the ongoing development work. The funds are to be used primarily for programming in order to be able to immediately process a higher order capacity for the market launch of the platform planned for the beginning of 2020. The offering is already very well received by financial advisors and financing platforms who would like to include CAPTIQ's financing product in their sales portfolio.

Christian Zugel, founder and CIO of ZAIS Group, commented as follows: 'CAPTIQ's approach fits perfectly with our group's top maxim: specialize and focus. The founding team has perfectly internalized the needs of institutional investors. With the automated valuation of many low-volume loans and their bundled securitization, they provide risk-averse and long-term oriented investors with access to an asset class that today is not an economically attractive business even for average house banks due to high regulatory requirements. This approach convinced us right away.'

CAPTIQ operates a platform that facilitates the granting of loans to regulated professionals, e.g. for the establishment of a medical practice, an engineering office or a law firm. The company offers financing at marketable conditions in the range of 5,000 to 750,000 euros. In addition to on-balance-sheet legal forms (e.g. limited liability companies), the company also caters to the needs of non-on-balance-sheet legal forms typical of regulated professions (e.g. freelancers). The loans are refinanced in securitized form via institutional investors such as pension funds or Depot A managers. The CAPTIQ business model is based on a B2B approach that involves financial advisors and banks in sales. CAPTIQ, an acronym of Capital and IQ, thus stands for a new, intelligent form of financing.