What happened: In early December, I covered that Solaris had avoided liquidation, and shareholders were working on new funding plans. Just a day before Christmas, the German banking-as-a-service provider shared internally that a breakthrough in funding discussions has happened. Yesterday, we learned what this likely means: according to different sources, existing Japanese investor SBI Holdings will provide most of the new funding (expected to be € 100-150 million) and become the majority owner, with an ownership in the 70-80% range. And the valuation drops from unicorn status to a “low three-digit number” (Manager Magazin; German and paywall).
My comment: In German, the saying goes, “Better a horrible end than an endless horror”, and it seems to fit perfectly in Solaris’ situation. I have written several times about their journey from being one of the first movers in banking-as-a-service to being the problem child in the industry. After the announcements in December, it was expected that SBI Holdings would likely be both the saver and the new majority owner. The deal is not final, but it seems the only way out - unfortunate for the other investors who will likely not get any return for a startup that was previously a highflyer in their portfolio.
