Martin Kassing is co-founder and chief executive of Upvest, a Berlin, Germany, company that runs trading, settlement and custody for banks and fintech apps through an API. He leads it with co-founders Dr. Til Rochow and Tobias Auferoth. Read our review of Upvest.
From Private Equity to ShopCo
He began in private equity, which he says taught him "to find the right capital structures and attractive fundraising opportunities." He then became chief operating officer of ShopCo, a payment provider later sold to Klarna. "It taught me that even great products don't have to be great businesses and vice versa," he told EU-Startups in 2023.
Rebuilding the Back End of Retail Investing
He started Upvest in 2017 after watching neobanks and broker apps win customers on design while running on old systems. "While there was a lot of innovation in UX, the infrastructure backing these players was, and still is, outdated," he said. Upvest began with crypto and moved into stocks and ETFs, and its clients now include DKB, Openbank, Revolut and N26.
The 2026 Push into Pensions
In March 2026 he set out the next push: local pension products such as Germany's Altersvorsorgedepot and UK SIPPs, and engines for AI-driven investing. "Banks, brokers, and wealth managers choose Upvest for the infrastructure needed to grow their investment propositions profitably and at scale for a new generation of investors," he said.
