Valentin Stalf

Overview
Valentin Stalf is an Austrian technology entrepreneur and co-founder of N26, the Berlin-based neobank he helped build into one of Europe's most valuable fintech companies. He served as chief executive from the company's founding in 2013 until 2025.
Why this entity matters
N26 is one of the defining companies of the European neobank era and a DACH unicorn, and Stalf is among the most prominent founders of that generation. His trajectory illustrates how a mobile-first banking app scaled from a Berlin startup into a licensed pan-European bank.
Career, company, or institutional background
Stalf, born in 1985, co-founded N26 in 2013 with Maximilian Tayenthal. The company launched an app-based current account, secured a full German banking licence, and expanded across the euro area and into additional markets. As CEO, Stalf oversaw N26's growth into a business serving millions of customers across Europe, positioning the app as a direct challenger to established retail banks and helping popularise fully digital, branchless banking in the German-speaking markets.
Role in the startup, technology, investment, or innovation ecosystem
Under Stalf, N26 raised successive venture rounds that established it as one of Europe's highest-valued fintechs, with a peak primary valuation of approximately USD 9 billion set in its 2021 Series E round. In 2025 he moved from the CEO role to N26's Supervisory Board, continuing to shape the company's direction as a co-founder and shareholder.
Selected relationships and affiliations
Stalf's principal affiliation is with N26, which he co-founded with Maximilian Tayenthal. The two co-founders together retain a significant minority stake in the company. N26 is headquartered in Berlin and is one of the most recognisable names to emerge from the city's fintech scene, placing Stalf within a wider network of European neobank and venture-backed founders.
Startuprad.io relevance
As a co-founder of a leading DACH fintech unicorn, Stalf and N26 feature in Startuprad.io's coverage of the German-speaking startup ecosystem and its Unicorn Atlas of high-growth European companies. N26 is a recurring reference point in DACH fintech analysis.
Public source context
Public information about Stalf is available through N26's corporate communications and independent encyclopaedic records. See his https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin_Stalf and https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q95490858 .

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