Berlin, 14.12.2018 – solarisBank, the technological-platform with a full banking licence, today notified that Marko Wenthin, co-founder and member of the Executive Board, will step down from his positions within the company due to health reasons and with the approval of the Supervisory Board at the end of 2018. Jörg Diewald took over his responsibilities as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) in September this year.
As co-founder, Marko Wenthin was one of the minds behind the idea of developing a completely digital banking platform that would do justice to the demands of the German and European digital economy. During his term on the board, the company grew from originally ten employees to over 200 and was able to raise more than EUR 95 million in capital. solarisBank also expanded internationally, passporting its banking license to six additional European countries.
At the beginning of September 2018, Jörg Diewald took over as CCO of solarisBank. He is an expert in the development and expansion of commercial organizations in the banking and fintech sector and will further strengthen solarisBank's position as the leading technology platform with a banking licence for digital companies, corporates and banks in Germany and Europe.
Gerrit Seidel, Chairman of the solarisBank Supervisory Board, said: “On behalf of the Supervisory Board, I would like to thank Marko for his great contribution to the growth of solarisBank. As one of the founders, he has been central in conceptualising and building the company from the very beginning. On behalf of the Supervisory Board, as well as the entire solarisBank team, I wish Marko a speedy recovery.”
Marko Wenthin, co-founder of solarisBank, said: “I have decided to step down from my position on the Executive Board due to health reasons as I focus on my recovery. solarisBank is on an enormous growth trajectory and demands full attention. The team is in an excellent position to master the challenges ahead. It also goes without saying that I will stay in close contact and will offer support wherever possible.”
solarisBank is the first banking platform with a full banking license which enables companies to offer their own financial products. Through APIs, partners gain access to solarisBank’s modular services including payments and e-money, lending, digital banking as well as services provided by integrated third party providers. Through this, solarisBank creates a highly developed technological banking ecosystem for FinTechs, established digital companies, as well as banks and corporates.
The Berlin-based company was founded back in 2016 and is led by CEO Dr. Roland Folz, co-founders and board members Marko Wenthin and Andreas Bittner, as well as CFO Alexander Engel, CPO Dr. Jörg Howein and CTO Peter Grosskopf. To date, solarisBank has raised more than EUR 95 million from renowned investors, including BBVA, Visa, Lakestar, ABN AMRO’s Digital Impact Fund, Arvato Financial Solutions, SBI Group, Finleap and yabeo.