RIDE Capital

RIDE Capital, a German fintech firm established in 2018 by Christine Kiefer and Felix Schulte, provides a digital platform for wealth structuring, targeting private investors who fall between the services of retail and traditional private banks. The company’s core offering revolves around facilitating the creation and administration of asset-holding limited liability companies (GmbHs) to enable tax-optimized investing. This structure allows clients to significantly reduce the tax burden on capital gains from assets like stocks, derivatives, and real estate, thereby maximizing capital available for reinvestment.

The founders' journey originated from their own experiences with real estate investments. While working on property projects, Kiefer, a fintech veteran with experience at Pair Finance and the Fintech Council of the Federal Ministry of Finance, and Schulte, an entrepreneur who previously founded and sold an e-commerce company using a tax-optimized GmbH structure, recognized a service gap. They observed that many private investors were unaware of the tax advantages offered by holding structures, a common tool for the wealthy. This realization led to the development of RIDE Capital's platform, which digitizes and automates the complex processes of founding and managing a GmbH, making it accessible and affordable.

RIDE Capital's business model is centered on providing these administrative services for a fixed fee, a departure from the variable, value-based pricing of traditional tax advisors. The platform connects clients with notaries and specialized tax advisors to streamline all processes. In addition to GmbH formation and administration, the company offers automated securities accounting through its proprietary software and provides access to a wide range of trading instruments via a partnership with Interactive Brokers. The target clientele includes long-term investors, active traders, startup founders, and business angels. The firm initially explored real estate tokenization using blockchain technology before pivoting to its current focus on tax-efficient investment structures.

The company has faced financial challenges, leading to an insolvency filing in September 2024. Following the insolvency, the firm was acquired by an investment vehicle associated with Raoul Heraeus for €630,000. In a subsequent development, the original founders, Christine Kiefer and Felix Schulte, repurchased the company, ensuring its continued operation and service for existing clients, with plans to accept new customers again.

Keywords: wealth structuring, asset management, tax optimization, GmbH formation, private investors, fintech, investment platform, securities accounting, real estate investing, holding companies