Four financial sector start-ups officially moved into the hub at the beginning of May 2016, and have been based there rent-free ever since. The hub offers 450 m2 of space in the up-and-coming Ostend area of Frankfurt, close to the trendy Berger Strasse. The Deutsche Börse Venture Network staff is on hand to consult the FinTech companies and provide them with contacts.

The four young companies have shown a steady development over the past twelve months, having either obtained initial funding already or are in the process, and their staff numbers have more than doubled. The many events held in the FinTech Hub have put Frankfurt on the FinTech radar both nationally and internationally. Recent visitors include delegations from Norway and South Korea, who met with the founders of the FinTech companies and Deutsche Börse Venture Network staff. Deutsche Börse brings together students, start-up founders and representatives of established financial institutions for its regular “rooftop talks” where they have the opportunity to exchange views. Deutsche Börse also sponsors TechQuartier, another FinTech centre in Frankfurt, which was established at the end of last year at the initiative of the Hesse state government.

“One year on and it's clear that Frankfurt and FinTech are a good match. Right here is where the action is in Europe now. Frankfurt has taken a big step forward, thanks to joint political and business initiatives,” said Carsten Kengeter, Deutsche Börse CEO, during the celebrations. “We want Frankfurt to become one of the leading FinTech locations in Europe. Its prospects post-Brexit are particularly promising and Deutsche Börse wants to be play a key role in its future.”

And what do the Fintech companies from the hub say?

Gernot Overbeck, CEO and co-founder of Fintura:

“We expanded our team from five to twelve during the past year in the FinTech Hub and developed our business design into a funding portal for SMEs. We now also broker leasing, factoring and finetrading etc. and we have won almost all B2B FinTechs as partners. The FinTech Hub's open atmosphere, rooftop talks and the great Venture Network team have made it our home. It inspires us and gives us the ideal space to develop our ideas.”

Lars Olsson, CEO and co-founder of CASHLINK:

“At CASHLINK we enjoy the innovative working atmosphere in Deutsche Börse's FinTech Hub. The great conditions here have played a major role in the growth of our company. The start-ups and Deutsche Börse Venture Network have developed a strong network in the past year, which is now reflected far beyond the hub. It shows the potential of Frankfurt's FinTech scene.”

Benjamin Michel, co-founder and CEO of dwins:

“Moving into the FinTech Hub served as an excellent accelerator for our company's development. Being located in the financial centre Frankfurt meant we could gain customers from the banking sector and work on Germany's first beyond banking app in the unique atmosphere of the FinTech Hub. The close communication with the other start-ups has helped us to learn from one another and motivates us to do our best every day. And we are really pleased that our hard work enabled us to beat over 150 teams worldwide and win the Deutsche Bank Hackathon.”

Yassin Hankir, founder and CEO of Savedroid:

“The FinTech Hub was a really lucky find for us. The continuous exchange with the other start-ups, the sparring with Deutsche Börse staff and the prime location close to Berger Strasse have helped us a lot. Since moving into the hub a year ago, we have expanded our team from 10 to 17, launched our savings app reaching more than 150,000 downloads already, and have completed two funding rounds.”