Raffael Johnen wanted to do the improbable, and his investors had questions. While his goal wasn’t impossible, it was certainly a challenging feat: he wanted to start a major tech firm in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Spoiler alert: It worked. Auxmoney, the digital lending company for which Johnen is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, is now booming in the city bisected by the Rhine River. But when Johnen first pitched the idea to investors from Union Square Capital, they had one question. “How the heck can you build a multi-billion-dollar business in Düsseldorf? Berlin, we know. Munich, we know. But how can you do that?” they asked, according to Johnen.
Obviously, Johnen’s pitch worked, and Auxmoney is now thriving, having closed its sixth Asset-Backed Securities (ABS) transaction in early April for €425, bringing the total amount the company has raised through ABS bonds to nearly €3 billion in capital markets. Johnen said that 90 percent of the company’s loans are scored, priced, and underwritten fully automatically, which helps the business operate at scale. Auxmoney has a presence in Germany and the Netherlands (Amsterdam is a mere 140 miles away) and has 190 employees, many of whom are helping to write loans for companies in nearby Cologne, a hotbed of startup activity.
Now the leading digital lending platform in Europe, Auxmoney was founded in 2007 and passed the €1 billion mark in disbursed loan volume in 2018. But it wasn’t until 2020 that the business truly exploded, starting with the founding of Auxmoney Investments in January. From there, the company scored €150 million in growth capital from Centerbridge Partners in September and, in November, invested €500 million in its own marketplace loans in partnership with BNP Paribas.
As the company continues its expansion, it has brought on new talent to help lead the charge, most recently hiring Raz Schweiger-Shuty as Chief Technology Officer. Schweiger-Shuty recently published a book entitled “Somehow We Manage: AKA - The Practical Manager’s Guide to the Galaxy,” and Johnen said he fits in perfectly with Auxmoney and his “expertise will be pivotal in supporting our growth and shaping our future tech innovations.”
Somehow, Johnen doesn’t just manage—he thrives. Not bad for a company based in Düsseldorf. Or anywhere else, for that matter.
