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Markus Koll Koch

Markus Koll Koch comes with $20 million backing

Markus Koll Koch just sold his payments and loyalty startup to Marqeta. Hopefully, he won't have to wait another two decades for his next success.

Koch and his co-founder sold the Hamburg-based company to financial technology company Marqeta for about $20 million. The acquisition closed Feb. 7.

Koch, 48, was born in Hamburg, Germany. He studied business administration at the University of Hamburg and worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Co. before starting his own company, called Ratepay, in 2002.

Ratepay was a payment service provider that allowed customers to pay for their purchases in installments. The company was successful, and in 2019, Koch sold it to PayPal for $300 million.

After selling Ratepay, Koch took some time off to travel and spend time with his family. But he soon started to get restless. He missed the excitement of building a business.

In 2020, he co-founded a new company called Loyalize with his friend and former Ratepay colleague, Hanno Heuers. Loyalize is a loyalty platform that helps businesses reward their customers for their purchases. The company has raised $15 million in funding from investors including HV Capital, Lakestar, and Picus Capital.

Koch is excited about the potential of Loyalize. He believes that the company can help businesses build stronger relationships with their customers and increase sales.

“We want to make loyalty simple and effective for businesses of all sizes,” Koch said. “We believe that Loyalize can help businesses create a more loyal customer base and drive growth.”

Koch is a serial entrepreneur with a proven track record of success. He is a visionary leader with a deep understanding of the payments and loyalty industries. He is also a passionate advocate for customer service. Koch is a role model for other entrepreneurs.