FinLab AG
FinLab AG: Further Growth for Berlin Blockchain Start-Up – Gapless Receives 5.5 Million Euros

Berlin/Frankfurt, Germany, April 29^th, 2020 – Berlin/Frankfurt, Germany, April 29^th, 2020 – Gapless, the platform for things you love, has successfully completed an extensive seed financing round. The Berlin-based blockchain start-up built around the founding trio CEO Jan Karnath, CFO Malte Häusler and CTO Andreas Joegbes raised a total of 5.5 million euros from investors.

The lead investor is the FinLab EOS VC Fund – a joint venture between FinLab AG (ISIN: DE0001218063; Ticker: A7A.GR) and EOSIO blockchain developer Block.one, global experts in blockchain technology. In addition to the fund, the insurance entrepreneur Kersten Jodexnis, with his family office LA ROCA Capital and Porsche AG, which have been investing in Gapless since 2018, are also involved in the financing.

The all-in-one app for your vehicle – and more
Gapless is the all-in-one app for your vehicle – which enables users to build up a complete comprehensible history and to use third-party services related to the vehicle. “With the FinLab EOS VC Fund, in partnership with Block.One venture arm EOS VC, we have found our partner of choice for the further development of our young company”, says Gapless CEO Jan Karnath, about the successful seed financing. “We are now taking the next step together to become the ‘platform for things you love’.” Together with Malte Häusler and Andreas Joebges, Karnath founded the platform in 2018 with the aim of safeguarding the value and emotional significance of historic vehicles for the future.

Expansion of the blockchain architecture
Block.one is the developer of the leading blockchain protocol EOSIO. Released in June 2018, EOSIO has been widely recognized as the first performant blockchain platform for businesses and is currently one of the most active blockchain software platforms in the world. Gapless intends to invest the newly raised capital in the product, the expansion of the blockchain architecture and the user growth of the platform. “We are pleased to welcome Gapless as a new investment in our portfolio,” says Stefan Schütze, Managing Director of the FinLab EOS VC Fund. “Gapless shows how blockchain technology can change services from the ground up – and always thinks from the user’s perspective.” FinLab AG manages the FinLab EOS VC Fund and is one of the largest fintech and blockchain investors in Europe.

Partner from the beginning: Porsche
Since the founding of Gapless, the Stuttgart-based sports car manufacturer has been at the side of the Berlin-based blockchain start-up, which today has 20 employees. Gapless has been listed in the Zuffenhausen ecosystem since September 2018 and was part of the Porsche innovation agenda at the Slush Conference in Helsinki and the IAA in Frankfurt am Main. Furthermore, it was included in the current badge round by the global accelerator program STARTUP AUTOBAHN powered by Plug and Play.

More than 50,000 vehicles are listed on the platform
Gapless already manages more than 50,00 vehicles on the platform, with most users of the so-called digital garages coming from the USA, Great Britain and Germany. By the end of the year, the Blockchain specialists expect up to 100,000. Further information about the all-in-one app for vehicles and other valuables can be found at www.gapless.app.

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About Gapless:

Gapless is the world’s first blockchain platform for vehicle owners. On www.gapless.app, users can manage their vehicles online and create digital, complete vehicle histories or have Gapless create them. All documents, photos and further pieces of information belonging to the car are located in a safe place and can be accessed, managed or shared online at any time in the form of digital exposés with verified historical entries. This includes, but is not restricted to, information on previous vehicle recalls, equipment characteristics data, or expenses.

About Block.one and EOS VC:

Block.one’s EOS VC program offers developers and entrepreneurs the funding they need to create community-driven businesses leveraging EOSIO. It provides support through venture capital partnership funds that primarily aim to achieve sustained utilization of the EOSIO ecosystem by investing in a concentrated and diversified portfolio of blockchain-focused companies building on the EOSIO software. The EOS VC initiative is dedicated to fostering a global network of individuals from a number of disciplines through our engagement events. As part of the mission and vision, EOS VC engages with the blockchain developer community on a regular basis. For further information, please visit Block.one and vc.eos.io.

About Porsche:

Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, with headquarters in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, is one of the most profitable car makers in the world. In 2019, Porsche delivered 280,800 vehicles of the 911, 718 Boxster, 718 Cayman, Cayenne, Macan, Panamera and Taycan models to customers worldwide. That was ten per cent more than the year before. Thereby, the sports car manufacturer’s operating profit before special items amounted to 4.4 billion euros, up three per cent. Porsche operates plants in Stuttgart and Leipzig as well as a development centre in Weissach. The sports car maker employs 35,429 people. Porsche is committed to innovation, many of the technologies have their origins in motorsport. Porsche are aware of every aspect of our corporate responsibility: economic, environmental and social.

About FinLab:

Stock market listed company FinLab AG (WKN 121806 / ISIN DE0001218063 / ticker symbol: A7A) is one of the first and largest investors focused on the Financial Services Technologies (“FinTech”) and blockchain sector in Europe. FinLab’s focus in this context is providing venture capital for start-ups. FinLab’s aim is long-term participation and ongoing support of its investments. FinLab in this regard supports its investments in their respective development phase with their network and know-how. In addition, FinLab acts as an asset manager and manages assets in the three-digit million-dollar range.

Press contact:
FinLab AG:
investor-relations@finlab.de
Phone: +49 69 719 12 80 0
www.finlab.de