Fynup.at↓Compass Gruppe
Situation
fynup launched in 2016 as derrechner.at. Wolfgang Staudinger, Michael Spacil and Franz Flotzinger – who had previously sold his property platform immmo.at – set out to make savings and investment products such as funds, ETFs, securities accounts and life insurance policies comparable. Their calculator charts a product's performance over its term, shows hidden costs and indicates when break-even is reached and whether inflation is beaten. Initially, independent financial advisers used the tool for a monthly fee; a consumer offering and white-label solutions for banks and insurers were planned. At the time, established media and publishing houses were keen to invest in digital businesses. The founding partners used this to open strategic partnership talks.
Process
IGCP acted as exclusive adviser on the strategic partner search, structuring and accompanying the process. At this stage the goal was less a takeover than a first shareholder who would add credibility and access without calling into question the independence of a comparison service. A provider of business and company information meets both requirements: it understands data products, is well connected in the Austrian business community and sells neither funds nor insurance itself. The fact that experienced business angels stand behind the Compass Group also suited a company that had yet to take its platform to consumers.
Outcome
In September 2019, fynup announced the Compass Group as its first investor, with a stake of around 6.8 per cent in fynup GmbH. The group traces its roots to the Compass publishing house founded in Vienna in 1867, has been owned by the Futter family since 1977 and today provides business and company information; since 2009 it has also financed start-ups. Among those behind it are business angels Hermann and Nikolaus Futter. In 2022, Georg and Josef Konrad, two early Bitpanda investors, joined as further shareholders, with the Compass Group remaining on board. fynup launched its own customer portal in 2021 and today offers commission-free, fee-based advice.
What the case shows
Not every strategic partnership is a sale. At fynup, a minority investment brought an established name into a young fintech's shareholder base. For a comparison portal, choosing a partner is more delicate than for many other business models: a shareholder from among the product providers could undermine the credibility of every comparison. Founders in a similar position should therefore look beyond valuation when taking on their first external shareholder and consider the signal that shareholder's name sends to customers and partners – and whether later funding rounds can build on it. At fynup, that happened in 2022.