Launching 1000 fintech startups in EU with Sir Gabriel Holbach
In this episode, I sit down with Sir Gabriel Holbach, partner and CPO at 0to9.
Guests
Show notes
In this episode, I sit down with Sir Gabriel Holbach, partner and CPO at 0to9.
Sir Gabriel Holbach is Partner & Chief Product Officer at 0TO9, where he helps founders turn early-stage ideas into scalable, user-centered fintech products. With over 13 years of experience in product design, UX strategy, and digital brand development across fintech, healthtech, and SaaS, he combines creative vision with operational precision.
Before joining 0TO9, Gabriel co-founded Penta (today Qonto), one of Europe’s leading SME-focused digital banks, where he led product design from MVP to 50,000+ users. He built and scaled design teams, managed agile squads, and developed a cohesive user journey from onboarding to dashboard through a reusable design system. Later, at Index Health, he led UX strategy and design systems, improving product–market fit to 68% and reducing customer acquisition costs by 66%.
0TO9 is a fintech venture builder and investor aiming to launch 1,000 profitable European fintechs by 2045. Founded in Sweden in 2025, the company provides entrepreneurs with capital, compliance, talent, technical, and operational support needed to start and scale licensed financial companies in months rather than years. 0TO9 operates under European financial services licences, allowing its portfolio companies to launch regulated financial products immediately.
In this episode
Sir Gabriel Holbach, a serial founder who co-founded the German business bank Penta, explains how brand and design helped Penta stand out, why he tried US healthcare, and why he joined 0to9. The venture builder aims to create 1,000 profitable European fintechs by 2045 by giving founders capital, a salary, licences and support so they can focus on reaching profitability. He shares what stood out in Stockholm and a sceptical view on stablecoins.
Chapters
- 0:00Introduction and 0to9
- 1:41The early German fintech boom
- 2:46Building Penta
- 6:33Why business banking
- 10:27Building fintech then vs now
- 13:46From fintech to US healthcare
- 18:14The 1,000-company goal
- 23:25How 0to9 builds and backs companies
- 29:49What Stockholm does differently
- 33:16AI at 0to9
- 43:14Stablecoins: a sceptic's view
Key facts
Sir co-founded Penta, a Berlin business bank for startups built on Solaris, with five founders; it was later sold to Qonto.
Penta brought company formation and business account opening fully online, which was new at the time.
Penta's "Bye Bye Banks" campaign put neon posters naming traditional banks in Berlin subway stations.
Sir then ran a US telemedicine company that reached about 20 states and 10,000 patients before being wound down because state-by-state licensing was too costly.
Sir is partner and CPO at 0to9, the first employed role he has taken as a serial founder.
0to9 aims to build 1,000 profitable fintech companies by 2045.
0to9 launched in Sweden and then Germany and has about six companies in its portfolio.
0to9 builds companies through entrepreneurs in residence, founder applications, in-house ideas and country expansions, and also invests at pre-seed.
0to9 founders get a salary and funding so they need not fundraise and can focus on reaching profitability, using 0to9's licences and experts.
0to9 is building an in-house AI product, Hugo, to track users' financial health.
Traditional banks offer the same products, so brand and user experience are what set a bank apart.
Expanding a regulated business across US states is as complex as expanding across European countries.
Stablecoins make sense for cross-border payments, but Sir doubts widespread adoption given how their value is backed.
Questions and answers
How did Penta start?
Five founders who had struggled to open business accounts asked on Quora how to build a bank and built on Solaris' banking-as-a-service.
How can 0to9 build 1,000 companies?
By building systems, a playbook and shared licences so each company can become profitable quickly.
What stood out in Stockholm?
A culture where everyone prioritises giving you what you need to succeed.