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Leverest fintech platform
Case Study

Leverest: From First Funding Round to US Expansion

Leverest transforms how companies access debt financing. We’ve been supporting the team since their early growth phase in Germany — long before US expansion was on the agenda.

When Leverest launched in Germany, we built the legal infrastructure for a scalable platform together.

Contract Framework: We developed the complete contract framework — from platform terms to borrower agreements to capital provider contracts. Each contract was structured to scale with the business.

VSOP Program: For employee equity participation, we set up a Virtual Stock Option Program. Clear vesting schedules, clean documentation, tax-optimized for all participants.

Convertible Loans: In the early phase, we structured convertible loan agreements that gave Leverest flexibility while remaining compatible with later funding rounds.

Across multiple funding rounds, we owned the legal process on Leverest’s side. That meant due diligence coordination, contract negotiation with investor counsel, and clean data rooms that existed before the round began.

Investors found organized cap tables, standardized contracts, and documented IP structures. That accelerated every deal.

US Expansion: Contract Harmonization Across the Atlantic

When Leverest expanded to the US, we focused on contract setup. The challenge: US and German contracts needed to form a coherent system.

Contract Alignment: We developed US contract templates that integrate seamlessly into the existing German framework. Same structure, same logic, adapted to US law.

Platform Contracts: Borrower and capital provider agreements that work under US law while remaining consistent with the German model.

Data Flows: GDPR-compliant mechanisms for transferring data between EU and US operations.

“Compound Law has known our business since day one. That makes every new contract faster because we don’t have to start from zero.”

Why Long-Term Partnership Works

Leverest shows the value of continuous legal partnership. We know the history of every contract clause, every cap table change, every strategic decision.

That means: New projects don’t start from zero. Our use of AI-assisted document analysis means contract review across the full history is faster and more consistent, while our lawyers apply the judgment that comes from knowing the business from day one. For fintech businesses whose legal counsel deploys AI tools in their practice, our overview of EU AI Act compliance for legal services explains the relevant provider obligations. And when speed matters, the trust is already there.

From the first convertible loan agreement to transatlantic contract harmonization — one legal partner that understands the business.

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Frequently asked questions

A VSOP (Virtual Stock Option Program) is a synthetic equity program: employees receive no actual shares, but a financial right to a cash amount equivalent to the value of real shares — payable upon an exit event (sale, IPO, or similar). In Germany, VSOPs are typically more tax-efficient than real equity grants, since taxation is deferred to the point of actual payment rather than triggered at grant. For early-stage companies, a VSOP allows you to offer meaningful upside to key hires without complicating the shareholder structure.

Compound Law structures data room preparation before the round begins: clean cap table, complete IP documentation, standardized contract history, and regulatory licenses in order. During the round, we coordinate due diligence requests from investor counsel, negotiate the term sheet and shareholders' agreement on the company side, and ensure consistent documentation across all contract layers. Investors who find an organized data room signal-read this as professional legal maturity — it measurably accelerates deal timelines.

Since the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (2023), several instruments are available for data transfers between EU and US operations: adequacy decision coverage for DPF-certified US entities, Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) for transfers to non-certified entities, or Binding Corporate Rules (BCRs) for intra-group transfers. Fintech platforms also need data processing agreements (DPAs) between EU parent and US subsidiary, with clearly defined data categories. The right structure depends on exactly which data flows between jurisdictions and who the data controllers and processors are.

A convertible loan is a loan agreement that converts automatically into equity at the next qualifying financing event — typically with a discount or valuation cap to compensate early investors for their risk. Convertible loans suit pre-seed or seed stages where agreeing on a company valuation is difficult or time-consuming. They allow fast capital raising without a full shareholders' agreement and remain compatible with later rounds, provided the conversion terms are clearly structured upfront.

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