ginkgo
ginkgo Betriebliche Vorsorge GmbH is a Berlin-based B2B fintech founded in 2024 that provides German small and medium enterprises with a digital, ETF-based, commission-free company pension (bAV) platform, integrating with 40+ HRIS and payroll systems and partnering with myLife Lebensversicherung for the insurance wrapper.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2024
- HeadquartersBerlin, Germany
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What ginkgo does
ginkgo Betriebliche Vorsorge GmbH is a Berlin-based B2B fintech founded in 2024 by Dr. Philip Liebenow and Carl Meran that delivers a digital, ETF-based, commission-free company pension (bAV) platform targeting German small and medium enterprises (KMU). The company operates as a registered insurance broker (Versicherungsmakler) under §34d GewO at IHK Berlin and is listed on the DRV Digitale Rentenübersicht (Digital Pension Overview) portal. Its product suite addresses structural weaknesses in the German bAV market, including low participation rates (~50%), opaque commissions, and heavy HR administrative burden, by combining modern ETF investment infrastructure with an automated digital workflow and a partnership with myLife Lebensversicherung AG (the only German life insurer offering exclusively commission-free net tariffs) for the insurance wrapper and 60% contribution guarantee.
The technical product consists of three core modules — the ETF-based bAV Finanzprodukt (with average ETF allocation of 50-90% depending on remaining term and automated lifecycle de-risking in the final five years before retirement), the ginkgo employee mobile app (real-time visibility into contributions, costs, and ETF performance, plus flexible monthly contribution adjustments), and the ginkgo People/HR platform (automated bAV administration) — supplemented by Launch & Comms and Support modules. The platform integrates via API or ASCII interface with 40+ HRIS and payroll systems, including Personio, DATEV, Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, BambooHR, HiBob, Sage, Deel, Factorial, Kenjo, Sesame, Charlie, ABACUS, and rexx systems, with SSO via Okta and Azure AD; setup time is reported at under 30 minutes. Effective customer costs are stated as under 1% per annum (0.6% admin fee + €1-3 monthly base + 0.12-0.30% fund TER).
The business model is commission-based: ginkgo receives volume-based or ongoing commissions from its insurance partner myLife Lebensversicherung rather than charging customers directly, while presenting a commission-free price point to employers and employees. The go-to-market motion is direct B2B enterprise sales — starting with demo bookings via the website, progressing through a 30-minute demo presentation, and concluding with full implementation support including program design, technical integration, and employee activation. Reference customers include KoRo Handels GmbH (grocery retail, SMB), share GmbH (~70 employees, social enterprise), Upvest GmbH (300+ employees, fintech), Verisana GmbH (~10 employees, health diagnostics), and LOVEMARK (~12 employees, PR agency). The company is supported by investors including Caesar Ventures (lead), Calm/Storm VC, Heartfelt Capital, and NCA, and is headquartered at Winterfeldtstraße 21 in Berlin within Deutsche Telekom's hub:raum incubator space.
ginkgo firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- ginkgo
- Legal name
- ginkgo Betriebliche Vorsorge GmbH
- Website
- https://ginkgo-hq.de
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2024
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- ginkgo Betriebliche Vorsorge GmbH is a Berlin-based B2B fintech founded in 2024 that provides German small and medium enterprises with a digital, ETF-based, commission-free company pension (bAV) platform, integrating with 40+ HRIS and payroll systems and partnering with myLife Lebensversicherung for the insurance wrapper.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
ginkgo industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Workplace Pension Technology
- NAICS
- Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394), Pension Funds (525110)
- SIC
- Insurance Agents, Brokers & Service (6411), Investment Advice (6282)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Employer Retirement Plan Advisory (401(k)/Pension) (FSAEABAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Retirement & Pension Planning (401(k)/IRA) (FSAEAAAD), Annuity & Insurance-Based Retirement Solutions Advisory (FSAEABAH), Savings Automation & Goal-Based Savings (FSAGADAC)
Keywords
Where ginkgo is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Berlin
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
ginkgo business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Insurance Brokerage Commission: ginkgo operates as an insurance broker registered with IHK Berlin under §34d GewO. Revenue comes from commissions passed through from the insurance partner myLife Lebensversicherung, which are included in the overall product pricing. The model is commission-free for customers (no hidden sales commissions), with ginkgo receiving volume-based or ongoing commissions from the insurer.
- Platform Services for Employers: ginkgo provides the bAV platform as a service to employers, including setup, integration, launch support, and ongoing administration. The service is bundled with the insurance product rather than priced separately.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Hybrid | Monthly | Commission-free bAV with transparent, low ongoing costs |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels4 records
ginkgo product offering
Product offeringCore offering
ginkgo operates a fully digital platform for managing German company pensions (bAV), combining an ETF-based, commission-free financial product (insurance-wrapped via partner myLife Lebensversicherung) with an employee mobile app and an HR/People administration dashboard. The platform automates the entire bAV lifecycle—from contract signing and payroll-deducted contributions to portfolio visibility and gradual de-risking near retirement—and is sold to employers who then enable their workforce to self-serve through the app.
Product overview
ginkgo offers a modular, platform-based bAV (betriebliche Altersvorsorge / company pension) solution consisting of three core integrated components: (1) the ETF-based bAV Finanzprodukt as the underlying financial product (commission-free, provisionsfrei), (2) the ginkgo App für Mitarbeitende for employee self-service and transparency, and (3) the ginkgo Plattform für People/HR for automated HR administration. The platform is supplemented by two supporting modules: Launch & Comms for go-to-market support within companies, and Support for ongoing expert assistance. All components share a unified data layer and are integrated with leading HRIS and Payroll systems. The product is backed by myLife Lebensversicherung AG for insurance and capital management.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- ginkgo bAV Finanzprodukt (ETF-based company pension product) Commission-free, ETF-based company pension (bAV / Direktversicherung) product for German employers and employees, with contributions primarily invested in globally diversified ETFs (averaging 50-90% depending on remaining term) and the remainder held by insurer myLife Lebensversicherung in a security reserve to back a 60% contribution guarantee. Designed to deliver transparent ongoing costs and materially higher retirement capital than traditional commission-based bAV products.
- ginkgo App für Mitarbeitende (Employee Mobile App) Mobile and web application that gives employees of ginkgo client companies real-time visibility into their company pension, transparent view of contributions, costs, and ETF performance, and the ability to adjust contributions monthly without fees. Fully digital contract signing is supported.
- ginkgo Plattform für People/HR (HR/People Administration Platform) Digital administration platform for HR and People teams to manage all bAV events and contracts with automated processing, minimal administrative burden, and HRIS/payroll integration (over 40 systems including Personio, DATEV, Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, BambooHR, HiBob, Sage) completed in under 30 minutes via API or ASCII interface.
- ginkgo Launch & Comms Launch support service covering the entire internal rollout of ginkgo bAV within a client company, including launch materials and launch sessions tailored to the company to drive effective and authentic employee communication.
- ginkgo Support Expert support team available for technical or specialist bAV questions before and after launch, handling inquiries via phone, chat, and video.
Quantifiable outcome
- Threefold increase in bAV participation rate within two months of implementation
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use ginkgo
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
ginkgo technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration16 records
Feature6 records
ginkgo partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- myLife Lebensversicherung AGcoremyLife is ginkgo's primary insurance partner, providing the insurance wrapper (Direktversicherung) for the bAV product. Based in Göttingen, Germany, myLife is the only German life insurer offering exclusively commission-free net tariffs. They manage the security reserve for contribution guarantees and handle insurance administration. myLife has a solvency ratio of 260% (2025) and ratings of 'very good' from Morgen & Morgen and A+ from Assekurata.
- hub:raumminorTech incubator and coworking space in Berlin where ginkgo is headquartered.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
ginkgo competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- PensExpert GmbH: German digital bAV administration platform serving employers with modern pension software. Direct competitor in the same German KMU bAV digitization niche, with overlapping target buyers (HR/People teams) and similar product surfaces (employer dashboard, employee portal).
- xbAV GmbH: German software provider specializing in bAV administration for employers, insurers, and brokers. Competes on the employer/administrator side of bAV with comparable HRIS integration and workflow automation, though without ginkgo's consumer-grade employee app.
- fairplait GmbH: German startup offering modern, transparent, ETF-based workplace pension products to employers, with a comparable commission-light model. Directly competes for the same KMU bAV modernization opportunity with overlapping value propositions on transparency and digital UX.
Broad incumbents
- Stuttgarter Lebensversicherung a.G. Major German mutual life insurer with a sizeable group bAV portfolio and direct bAV distribution for KMU. Relevant incumbent benchmark on pricing, distribution scale, and broker relationships, even though it sells traditional bAV alongside digital offerings.
- Allianz Leben / Allianz Pension Partners: Germany's largest life insurer and pension provider, with deep employer relationships across KMU and enterprise. Sets the incumbent cost-and-distribution bar against which ginkgo must compete, and represents the most likely replication risk if it copies ginkgo's digital UX.
- HDI Lebensversicherung AG: Large German life and pension insurer offering group bAV (Direktversicherung) products to mid-market and enterprise employers. Comparable on insurance wrapper structure and KMU/mid-market distribution, though with traditional cost structures and broker-led distribution.
Emerging players
- Smart Pension: UK workplace pension platform with digital employer dashboard, employee app, and payroll integrations. Comparable product surface and fintech-style execution against legacy UK pension providers, though operating under UK auto-enrollment rather than German bAV regulation.
- Penfold Ltd. UK digital workplace pension provider emphasizing transparent fees and modern UX for employers and employees. Comparable consumer-grade pension experience and digital-first positioning, though smaller and UK-only.
- Clark Germany GmbH: German insurtech offering digital insurance advisory and broker services to consumers and SMEs across life, health, and pensions. Comparable digital broker model in the German market with overlapping insurance-broker regulation under §34d GewO, though broader than bAV alone.
Others
- Personio SE & Co. KG: German HRIS/HR-tech leader for SMBs and mid-market, with a native integration to ginkgo's bAV platform. Adjacent ecosystem participant whose installed base shapes ginkgo's distribution; potentially a future partner or competitor if Personio extends into bAV-first workflows.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
ginkgo social profiles
Digital presenceginkgo compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
ginkgo financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
ginkgo leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
ginkgo funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors4 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
ginkgo M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about ginkgo
What does ginkgo do?
ginkgo operates a fully digital platform for managing German company pensions (bAV), combining an ETF-based, commission-free financial product (insurance-wrapped via partner myLife Lebensversicherung) with an employee mobile app and an HR/People administration dashboard. The platform automates the entire bAV lifecycle—from contract signing and payroll-deducted contributions to portfolio visibility and gradual de-risking near retirement—and is sold to employers who then enable their workforce to self-serve through the app.
Is ginkgo a public or private company?
ginkgo is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was ginkgo founded?
ginkgo was founded in 2024. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is ginkgo based?
ginkgo is headquartered in Berlin, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does ginkgo make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Insurance Brokerage Commission is the primary driver. The others are platform Services for Employers.
Who are ginkgo's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are PensExpert GmbH, xbAV GmbH and fairplait GmbH. Broad incumbents are Stuttgarter Lebensversicherung a.G., Allianz Leben / Allianz Pension Partners and HDI Lebensversicherung AG. Emerging players are Smart Pension, Penfold Ltd. and Clark Germany GmbH. Personio SE & Co. KG is listed as an others.
Does ginkgo have an API?
No public API is recorded for ginkgo.
What industry is ginkgo in?
ginkgo's product category is Workplace Pension Technology. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAEABAE, Employer Retirement Plan Advisory (401(k)/Pension), with a secondary code of FSAEAAAD, Retirement & Pension Planning (401(k)/IRA). Its NAICS code is 523940 and its SIC code is 6411.