Felix Oldenburg is a social entrepreneur who has founded a very special fintech. With Bcause, he launched a project designed to fill the gap between donations and his own foundation as a platform – entirely digitally, with tax benefits and without a minimum sum and administrative procedures. His credo: "This should not be a niche product. We want to bring the willingness to donate and impact investing to the centre of society," says Oldenburg talking with Börsen-Zeitung.

The initial situation: Traditional foundations are only worthwhile from a size of 10 million euros due to the administrative effort involved. The construct is, therefore, not suitable for smaller assets – let alone for the masses. Bcause can remedy this shortcoming. An online foundation can be set up within five minutes. You can then support verified organisations. The donation receipt is issued directly in digital form.

The unique thing about this is that every user can add their own organisation to the platform, which is accessible to everyone after being checked by Bcause, and everyone can track where other donors are taking their investments. "When you see how others are getting involved, it can motivate and inspire you to do more yourself – or to get started in the first place," says Oldenburg.

What is possible in the market for foundations for everyone is illustrated in the USA: So-called donor-advised funds manage a volume of 200 billion dollars there. After a start-up phase with a deliberately small community of supporters and investors, Bcause has only been open to everyone for six months. Impact addresses such as Brand New Bundestag and Hate Aid were recently added. These organisations have much better access to donations via Bcause than through traditional channels, says Oldenburg.

Oldenburg puts the potential in Germany alone at well over 100,000 donors and benefactors on the platform. Foreign markets are also to be tapped into. In addition to the retail side, family offices that are committed to sustainable investing are also coming to the platform. According to Research and Markets, the global market for impact investing was worth 495.8 billion dollars in 2023, an increase of 17%.

The financial sector is fully on the journey to ESG investing – this naturally gives Oldenburg's business idea and his fellow campaigners a tailwind, as the big money is also flowing into an increased allocation for impact investing projects and financial products.

This may show a little of the potential for the coming expansion stages of Bcause. Further options for impact investing would be added, and Oldenburg is also thinking about "a credit card with impact and benefits". So far, Bcause has generated revenue through fees, which amount to 170 euros per year for public foundations, for example.

There are no additional transaction costs here. A non-public foundation is even free of charge, but standard market transaction fees are added. According to Oldenburg, the transaction volume to date has totalled 5.2 million euros. "We do not manage third-party assets. The money belongs to the respective foundations." More than 1,500 foundation accounts have been set up, and over 200 organisations have been checked and financed.

How quickly can the business model be scaled? The zeitgeist plays into Bcause's hands. However, Oldenburg emphasises that they are building something for the next 25 years, so he does not want to formulate short-term goals – after all, they have only been open to everyone for a few months.

But Oldenburg has ambitious long-term goals for Bcause: "We are basically the Trade Republic for the impact investing generation. For them, getting financially involved online is a no-brainer. Networking on the platform then creates impact influencers who mobilise others to get involved. It's not just for celebrities, but for everyone."

The fintech was financed by a seed round of 2.3 million euros and a further 1.5 million euros last year. So far, the company has been financed by 30 private individuals, such as Nebenan.de founder Christian Vollmann and the former Co-CEO of Zalando, Rubin Ritter, who sometimes invest via their family offices. Institutional investors will also be involved in the next financing round, says the founder.

Supporters include the head of the German start-up association Verena Pausder, ex-Thyssenkrupp CEO Martina Merz, the founder Ise Bosch, and the entertainer and activist Eckart von Hirschhausen. Oldenburg himself spent four years as Secretary General of the Association of German Foundations and worked for many years as Managing Director of the non-profit organisation for the promotion of social entrepreneurs Ashoka.

The latest data from Germany shows that the willingness to donate needs to be boosted. The volume of donations fell by 12% in 2023, reports Oldenburg.