On December 7 we had a Let’s Talk organized by VCM with Kai H. Kuljurgis, one of the founders and CEO of the Bielefeld crypto startup coindex. The event took place as a Zoom conference and promised exciting insights into the fintech and crypto scene.
What you should know about Kai
Kai grew up in Bielefeld. After completing a dual business administration degree at the Verwaltungs- und Wirtschaftsakademie Ostwestfalen-Lippe in cooperation with Hörmann KG, he joined PwC’s consulting division. After a few years, the founder started at a small strategy consultancy. Kai also co‑founded the strategy consultancy e&Co AG, where his role included networking. After roughly eight years in consulting, which he spent partly in Berlin, he wanted something new. Shortly after, he met the future co‑founder and CTO of coindex, Sergio M. Pereira. Driven by enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies and blockchain, and the 2017 Bitcoin rally, the two founded the crypto‑fintech coindex.
The crypto startup coindex
Coindex was founded in 2018 by Kai and Sergio and was originally intended to become a robo‑advisor for crypto assets. Ultimately, they decided to offer index‑based crypto savings plans with coindex, modeled after ETF savings plans. The target audience: anyone who wants to participate in the Bitcoin hype but doesn’t have the time or desire to constantly manage their finances. The goal was to create a mass‑market, low‑barrier, yet regulated way to access crypto assets, allowing money to flow periodically into a personal crypto investment via a savings plan.
The startup’s competition comes from Austria and is called bitpanda. What sets coindex apart from bitpanda? At coindex the focus isn’t on buying as many products as possible, but on investing responsibly in crypto assets. This is achieved, among other things, through a simple, self‑explanatory app design. Additionally, coindex is subject to German regulation and offers German‑language customer support.
With the cdx crypto index, coindex wants to give customers an investment in the entire cryptocurrency market. The index includes 14 crypto assets and is calculated automatically each month by an algorithm. Among its partners is Sutor Bank from Hamburg, which acts as a payment service provider and handles securities transactions. Custody is managed by coindex.
In the summer of this year, coindex launched. Currently the startup manages about €1.2 million from 700 fully invested users, with 3,000 users in the onboarding process. The cost for an index‑based portfolio is 0.5% transaction fees for each trade, plus an annual usage fee of 1% of the portfolio value. So far, coindex is only active in the German market.
Fundraising campaign for the fintech
Kai says the first money for coindex came from a crypto‑enthusiast friend, followed by pitches to recruit local investors. The bulk of the capital, however, came from business angels. The COVID‑19 pandemic made the fundraising campaign more difficult, causing the launch to be delayed. Two financing rounds were run through Companisto, which also sparked a beneficial community‑building effect. In total, the fundraising campaign raised an amount in the low single‑digit‑million range.
By the way, on the same day as the Let’s Talk, coindex announced a partnership with the rapper Montez, who also comes from Bielefeld. Through this partnership, new target groups should be reached and, in general, more customers acquired. All in all, the Let’s Talk with Kai was quite interesting and informative. We’re excited to see how coindex develops in the future and will definitely keep an eye on the startup.
