Solaris SE was established in 2015 as a part of Finleap,[5] a fintech company builder based in Berlin, Germany, with Andreas Bittner and Marko Wenthin[6] as its founders.[7] Solaris was officially launched in March 2016, after receiving its banking license.[1][8]
In February 2017, Solaris raised €26.3 million in its series A funding round from Yabeo Capital, Arvato Financial Solutions, Finleap, Unicredit and the Japan-based SBI group.[10] The company also brought in Dr. Roland Folz as CEO.[2]
In March 2017, Solaris is said to have brought over 20 companies onto its banking platform[2] and it is reported to have passported its banking license to six European countries.[11]
In March 2018, Solaris raised $70 million in Series B funding from Arvato Financial Solutions, SBI Group, BBVA, Visa, Lakestar and ABN AMRO's Digital Impact Fund.[12]
In June 2020, Solaris raised €60 million in Series C funding led by HV Capital with participation from Vulcan Capital, Samsung Catalyst Fund and Storm Ventures.[13]
Technology
Solaris provides a white label banking platform,[14] which is said to allow its users, mostly digital companies and financial services startups, to access various banking service modules, which then can be integrated into their processes, websites or mobile applications.[10][15]
Special audit
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In January 2022, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) of Germany ordered a special audit because of organizational deficiencies identified during a bank supervisory audit from 2020.[16] The independent external auditors are supposed to verify whether Solaris has implemented the respective measures which were agreed with BaFin as a result of the Art. 44 KWG standard audit. Folz publicly welcomed this action, claiming that the company held no secrets.[17]
