NaroIQ
NaroIQ is a fintech from Cologne that builds the technology fund managers need to launch and run their own exchange-traded funds, or ETFs. Capital management companies and ETF initiators keep their own license, fund administrator and depositary, and NaroIQ connects the market makers and stock exchanges to that existing setup. Chris Püllen and Nils Krauthausen founded the company in 2022.
The platform covers an ETF from the feasibility check and exchange listing to daily trading data such as the indicative net asset value. Two subsidiaries add regulated services: NaroAM is an investment firm licensed by BaFin that can manage ETF portfolios, and NaroIX is a registered administrator of benchmark indices. NaroIQ wants smaller and mid-sized fund providers to enter the ETF market without building their own infrastructure.
How the ETF platform works
NaroIQ is the coordination layer between all the parties an ETF needs. Before a launch, the company analyzes the existing infrastructure of a fund provider, checks whether an ETF is feasible and connects the service partners through secure interfaces and automated workflows. As technology partner, NaroIQ standardizes the processes between market makers, the management company and the transfer agent, and it handles exchange listings and the connection to distribution channels.
Once an ETF trades, NaroIQ calculates and publishes the indicative net asset value during the trading day and delivers the portfolio composition files that market makers work with. An in-house indexing engine builds an index when a strategy needs one, and the portfolio managers of NaroAM can take over the management of the fund. The two main uses are new ETFs and ETF share classes for management companies, and the conversion of existing retail funds into ETFs.
Licenses and subsidiaries
NaroIQ GmbH is registered at the local court of Cologne and holds a registration as an investment broker under the supervision of the Cologne chamber of commerce. In November 2025 BaFin authorized the subsidiary NaroAM as an investment firm under the German Investment Firms Act, and with that step the group reached five BaFin licenses and ESMA registrations. The second subsidiary, NaroIX, is registered with BaFin as a benchmark administrator under the EU Benchmarks Regulation and provides the indices for the platform.
Partners and live ETFs
Hauck & Aufhäuser Fund Services, a management company in Luxembourg, became the first partner in August 2025 and uses the platform to launch and administer active and passive ETFs. In May 2026 First Private Investment Management from Frankfurt followed with active ETFs and ETF share classes, while it keeps Universal Investment as its fund administrator. In June 2026 DZ Privatbank and its management company IPConcept agreed to launch active ETFs with NaroIQ in Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland.
The first ETFs built on the platform already trade on exchanges, among them the Acatis Altersvorsorgedepot UCITS ETF, which started trading on Xetra on 8 May 2026. Further live funds on the platform are the TEQ General Artificial Intelligence UCITS ETF and the Inyova Impact Investing Active Equity Fund UCITS ETF.
Upcoming fintech and finance events in Germany
Funding and investors
NaroIQ started under the name Naro and raised a pre-seed round of 3 million US dollars led by La Famiglia, now part of General Catalyst, and Discovery Ventures. Founders of Flix and Forto and the investors Angel Invest and Robin Capital also took part in that round. In June 2025 a seed round brought more than 6.5 million US dollars, or 5.85 million euros, led by Magnetic from Berlin with Redstone as a new investor, and General Catalyst increased its stake.
Founders and management
Chris Püllen is chief executive of NaroIQ and founded the company in 2022 with Nils Krauthausen, who manages the index subsidiary NaroIX together with Nico Hamann. Hendrik Mechlinski and Christian Meyer-Vahrenhorst are the managing directors of the regulated subsidiary NaroAM and are both known in the German fund industry. Moritz Schierholz is head of portfolio management, Nico Hamann is head of indexing, and Seda Tunç Soylu is head of fixed income.
Headquarters in Cologne
NaroIQ GmbH and both of its subsidiaries are registered at Im Mediapark 5 in 50670 Cologne. Cologne is a large insurance center, and the fintech scene in Cologne includes several firms that work for insurers and asset managers.
NaroIQ and Finance Loop
Finance Loop members at asset managers, banks and fund service companies ask how a fund can reach investors on exchanges and digital platforms at lower cost. ETF share classes, index calculation and the data flows between market makers and fund administrators are part of that question. Finance Loop brings such practitioners together at its events on asset management and tokenized funds.
Finance Loop is a professional network and has the goal of driving the institutional use of emerging technologies in finance, such as AI, tokenization, stablecoins, and DeFi. Finance Loop helps its members build skills and personal networks in these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.