Munich-based legaltech company Openlaw is taking over Firma.de from insolvency. Just two years after its own founding, the startup has secured one of the pioneers of digital business formation in Germany. Firma.de was founded in 2012 and has shaped the market over more than a decade.
According to the company, the acquisition makes Openlaw the market leader for fully digital business formations in Germany. The platform will now have more than 30,000 customers and a network of over 1,000 notaries. The organizational and technical integration is expected to be completed within two months.
Openlaw operates the platform Beglaubigt.de and aims to accelerate business formations in Germany. According to the company, forming a GmbH in Germany often still takes four to eight weeks. Through the acquisition of Firma.de, Openlaw wants to significantly accelerate the expansion of its digital infrastructure.
Speed decides in the bidding process
According to the insolvency administrator, Openlaw prevailed in a process involving multiple interested parties. The team’s experience, led by CEO Alexander Sporenberg, was decisive. Sporenberg was previously part of the founding team at Razor Group, where he gained extensive experience in corporate acquisitions.
Joachim Kühne from CMS Hasche Sigle, insolvency administrator of Firma.de, comments:
“This was an extremely challenging sales process in every respect. Sporenberg and his team demonstrated determination and the ability to act within the shortest possible time – and that’s what made the difference.”
Openlaw plans to not only take over the customers but also integrate a large part of the team. Ongoing projects will be continued without interruption.
Alexander Sporenberg, CEO of Openlaw, says:
“At a time when there are more corporate insolvencies than ever before in more than two decades, the speed of business formation is crucial to whether our economy can renew itself. Anyone who can found a company within days instead of weeks contributes to getting the country moving again faster. We’re building the operating system for entrepreneurship – from formation to taxes.”
