Vantik

Vantik GmbH was a Berlin-based fintech startup founded in 2017 by Til Klein and Lara Haemmerle. The company aimed to modernize retirement planning, particularly for millennials and freelancers, by offering a fully digital and flexible private pension product. Klein, a former partner at Boston Consulting Group and a banker with UBS, was motivated to start Vantik due to his frustration with the traditional banking industry's inability to create customer-centric and innovative financial products. Haemmerle shared the view that existing pension products were out of touch with their generation's needs.

The company operated as a robo-advisory platform for retirement planning. Its core product was a fund-linked private pension plan that invested in a diversified portfolio of asset classes like equities and bonds through low-cost index funds. A key feature was the Vantikcard, a free Mastercard debit card that provided 1% cashback on all purchases, with the proceeds automatically invested into the user's retirement fund. This was designed to create a low-friction entry point into retirement savings. The platform allowed users to start with as little as €1 and adjust their savings rates at any time, offering a level of flexibility absent in traditional pension contracts.

Vantik secured approximately $2.7 million in funding over three rounds from investors including Atlantic Labs, Seedcamp, and STS Ventures. Despite some initial traction, the company faced significant headwinds. In June 2022, Vantik filed for provisional insolvency after a planned financing round unexpectedly failed. The company cited restrained European economic growth and stock market fluctuations as contributing factors. Following the insolvency filing, Vantik's business operations were shut down entirely. In August 2022, agreements were made with competitors; the mobile banking app Vivid began servicing Vantik's customer accounts, while the digital asset manager Evergreen took over the investment assets.

Keywords: Vantik, fintech, retirement planning, pension platform, robo-advisor, cashback, digital pension, Til Klein, Lara Haemmerle, Vantikcard, private pension, investment funds, ETF, Berlin startup, fintech insolvency, financial services, wealth management, asset management, mobile banking, sustainable savings