Is Frankfurt Only Good for Banks?

We asked Ceeve. Turns out there's more happening here than trading floors.

If you're into startups, or you just want to build something real instead of sitting in a corporate rotation program, Frankfurt has one of Germany's most underrated startup scenes — and yes, the skyline still looks great from the office.

Fintech, climate tech, consumer apps, automation. There's a whole wave of startups growing fast here, and not just the big names. A lot of smaller seed and pre-seed teams are actively hiring interns and new grads right now.

If you're a student, a recent grad, or someone tired of being employee #4000 somewhere, this is your sign.

Here's what's actually happening in Frankfurt right now, company by company.

Fintech & Wealth

Bavest — B2B fintech infrastructure giving asset managers and banks access to real-time financial and alternative data, including ESG and climate data, through one API. Pivoted from B2C to B2B in 2022 and has since built out an AI-as-a-service layer for portfolio risk analysis. Raised €1.1M pre-seed.

Green Banana / BNPLX.io — Runs bnplx.io, a single-API platform that connects merchants with Buy Now, Pay Later providers across 25+ countries. Rather than being a BNPL provider itself, it's the orchestration layer that lets retailers plug into whichever BNPL network fits them, with built-in fraud detection and real-time analytics.

BITA — Infrastructure for financial indexation and systematic investing, letting institutional clients build and calculate custom indices in minutes instead of the months a traditional index provider takes. Founded by an ex-Deutsche Börse SVP, and one of the earliest fintechs to come out of Frankfurt's Startupbootcamp program.

Leverest — A digital marketplace for debt financing, connecting private equity funds, corporations, and debt advisors with a network of lenders for leveraged buyouts and refinancings. Uses NLP and workflow software to cut down what's traditionally an opaque, relationship-driven process. Backed by BMH Hessen.

Blocksize Capital — Infrastructure for financial institutions to trade, custody, and manage digital assets, with bank-grade compliance built in. One of Frankfurt's earliest crypto-infrastructure plays, founded in 2018 and still one of the city's most-funded blockchain startups.

FINVIA — A multi-family office built for the digital era, managing wealth for high-net-worth individuals and family offices with over €7B in assets today. Combines traditional family-office advisory with a proprietary digital platform for portfolio transparency. Started as a startup in 2020 and has scaled into one of Germany's most established players in the space.

Climate & Green Energy

Otark — A trading platform that lets commercial and industrial electricity buyers purchase certified green power directly from producers, cutting out the layers of complexity that usually come with renewable energy procurement. Raised €2.5M seed, co-founded by the team behind Shopgate.

Bullfinch — Positions itself as a "climate fintech," pooling and standardizing green energy infrastructure projects (solar, storage, smart buildings) so they qualify for larger institutional funding sources. Has since brought on a joint investment vehicle with Aquila Capital to put €200M into renewables.

Consumer & Lifestyle

Louco — An events-discovery app that curates concerts, festivals, and nightlife across German cities based on your taste, mood, and who you know. Think a more personalized alternative to scrolling Eventim, with ticketing built in through partners like Ticketmaster and Vivenu.

READO — A social reading app where you track what you're reading, set goals, and get personalized book recommendations from your own digital library. Featured on Höhle der Löwen (Germany's Shark Tank) and named Content Startup of the Year at the 2021 Frankfurt Book Fair. Just closed a fresh €1M seed round.

B2B Software & Impact

leonardo.impact — A sustainability data platform helping companies produce impact reports that hold up to scrutiny, built on scientific standards rather than self-reported claims. Raised €555K pre-seed led by Hessian investor bmh.

Embold Technologies — An AI-powered static code analysis platform that helps engineering teams catch bugs and code-quality issues before they become expensive problems downstream. Formerly known as Acellere, rebranded in 2019, and now serves software teams well beyond Frankfurt.

Implify — A B2B platform digitizing procurement for dental practices and labs, replacing the fax-and-phone ordering process that still dominates the industry with something closer to Amazon Go for implants. Finalist for Frankfurt Forward's Startup of the Year.

Direct links to every open role at these companies are on Ceeve — no aggregator listings, no dead links, just the actual application pages.

See open roles at Frankfurt startups →