Most fintech companies are built to solve one problem in one market. FinLeap was built to build fintech companies. Founded in Berlin in 2014, it operates as a fintech company builder — a venture studio that creates, funds, and scales financial technology businesses across Europe. Its portfolio has included solarisBank (now Solaris), Clark, and several other companies that have become significant players in their respective categories. The model is genuinely different from a traditional venture fund: FinLeap takes an operational role in the companies it creates, providing shared infrastructure, regulatory expertise, and a talent network that reduces the cost and risk of building from scratch in a heavily regulated industry. In an ecosystem where regulatory barriers to entry are high and the cost of building core banking infrastructure is prohibitive, the venture studio model has particular advantages. FinLeap has been one of the architects of Berlin's position as a European fintech hub, and its portfolio companies collectively represent a significant share of German fintech innovation. Building the builders, it turns out, can be as valuable as building the products themselves.