Rolf Elgeti (left) is said to be involved in Creditshelf’s problems – say the fintech’s board members, Tim Thale (CEO) and Daniel Bartsch (CFO, from left to right). Creditshelf / Getty Images / Zoe-Melody Janser for Gründerszene.
The listed fintech Creditshelf has serious problems. On the evening of February 1st, the company announced in an ad hoc announcement that it would soon apply for the opening of protective shield proceedings in accordance with Section 270d of the Insolvency Code. It goes on to say that the board of directors of the stock corporation sees “essential foundations for Creditshelf’s positive continuation forecast as no longer being met.” The reasons for the decision listed in the communication read as follows: After “unsuccessful negotiations with the main shareholder Obotritia Capital KGaA”, it was determined that the investor would probably not fulfill its “contractual obligations to Creditshelf after a deadline”.
In other words: According to the announcement, Obotritia is not paying legally binding money – and Creditshelf is running out of money. The aim of the protective shield procedure is to clear the way for other investors. According to the company, the process is the best solution after thorough testing.
What exactly happened and what is Obotritia Capital all about? Here are the details.
Two failed deals: the path to disaster
Everything started so well: in 2014, Tim Thale and Daniel Bartsch founded Creditshelf. Both have years of banking experience. The Hessian fintech works like a match-making platform on which companies and lenders find each other. Creditshelf’s core service is a data-supported risk analysis of loan seekers. The target group: German medium-sized businesses. From the start, the money lent also comes from institutional investors.
The credit broker wants to outdo competitors through uncomplicated, digital processes. That seems to be working: In the summer of 2018, the startup was one of the first fintechs in Germany to go public on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
The search for funding partners soon becomes difficult for the credit startup, so banks. In autumn 2021, Creditshelf AG announced that it would take out a loan of 120 million euros from Amsterdam Trade Bank. There was talk of a “strong commitment to German medium-sized businesses”. But six months later, the Dutch bank slipped into bankruptcy. The 120 million are missing.
The US investment giant Goldman Sachs was then supposed to forgive the fintech a 100 million euro loan, as the startup announced in November 2022. The commitment “makes us very proud and is a great success for our company’s development,” said CFO Daniel Bartsch. In the Tech Startups Germany podcast in April 2023, Bartsch speaks confidently about the million-dollar loan. But this million-dollar deal never comes to fruition either.