Solaris (credit institution)
Solaris SE is a European-licensed credit institution based in Berlin, Germany. It operates digital banking and payments services and provides a white-label platform for other digital companies to offer banking features. Its services include bank accounts, debit and credit cards, consumer loans (including buy-now-pay-later), e-money, and payment processing. The company serves customers across Europe and has offices in London, Paris, Milan, Madrid, and Vilnius, in addition to its Berlin headquarters.
Solaris was created in 2015 as part of Finleap, a Berlin-based fintech builder, and launched in March 2016 after obtaining its banking license. It was known as Solarisbank AG until November 2022, when it rebranded to Solaris SE. In October 2016, Solaris formed a strategic partnership with Mastercard to develop new banking modules.
Key people include founders Andreas Bittner and Marko Wenthin. Dr. Roland Folz served as CEO in 2017, and the current CEO is Carsten Höltkemeyer.
Financials and growth: Solaris reported revenue of about €130.9 million for 2022 and employs over 700 people. The company has undergone several funding rounds: Series A in 2017 (€26.3 million) from Yabeo Capital, Arvato Financial Solutions, Finleap, UniCredit, and SBI Group; Series B in 2018 (€70 million) from Arvato Financial Solutions, SBI Group, BBVA, Visa, Lakestar, and ABN AMRO Digital Impact Fund; Series C in 2020 (€60 million) led by HV Capital; and Series G in 2025 (€140 million) with SBI Group becoming the majority shareholder.
Regulatory note: In January 2022, BaFin ordered a special audit to check for organizational improvements identified during a 2020 supervisory audit. Solaris welcomed the audit and said there were no secrets.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 22:59 (CET).