Tiun: The Venture Leader Fintech redefining payment solutions for media

22.11.2024 15:03, Rita Longobardi

Meet Sandro Frederico Zweig, CEO of Tiun. The Fintech startup allows the next generation to connect their mobile wallets with any application and pay based on usage. In December, Sandro and the other nine Swiss National Fintech Team members will fly to London on a business development and investor roadshow.

Name: Sandro Frederico Zweig
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Nationality: Swiss
Graduated from: Parsons New York, ETH Zurich
Job title: CEO
Number of employees: 6
Money raised: USD 2.5M
First touchpoint with Venturelab: Venture Kick

Sandro Zweig is the co-founder and CEO of Tiun, a fintech company that provides modern infrastructure solutions designed to attract and retain younger audiences. Tiun provides businesses with the toolkits to create world-class user experiences that drive millions of users to their service and increase customer spend and engagement. Before founding Tiun, Sandro was an early employee at Fundbase, a fintech platform that was later acquired by a leading fund distributor. He is also the founder of Ramus, a digital agency that he successfully scaled and sold in 2022. Sandro holds degrees from Parsons School of Design, New York University (NYU), and ETH Zurich. Outside of his professional pursuits, he enjoys being creative through drawing, and painting and has a passion for interior design and architecture.
 
Can you tell us who your product or solution helps, and how?
Tiun provides media and streaming businesses with the toolkits to create world-class user experiences that drive millions of users to their service, and increase customer spend and engagement. We provide businesses with the payment infrastructure that allows consumers to connect their wallet (e.g. TWINT, Paypal) with one click to an online service and pay based on usage.
This way we leverage a consumer's existing "wallet account information" to bypass the registration and monthly commitment barrier while generating more data insights, revenue, and future subscription leads for the business. In summary, tiun takes care of a business's user authentication, usage tracking, and billing and charges a SaaS Fee and transaction fee.

What market are you addressing and what is the potential of your startup in that market?
Tiun is a fintech offering an off-the-shelf product that works horizontally in a support function of any market that offers digital subscriptions. Currently, we are setting a focus on the news industry (Market: USD 20bn+) and plan to expand into gaming (Market: USD 100bn+) and streaming (Market: USD 100bn+) next year. 

How and where did you come up with the idea for your startup?
Our journey began during COVID-19, when libraries were closed and our co-founder, Sandro, was forced to constantly sign up and cancel his digital subscriptions to access relevant content for his university thesis. This sparked a realization of a widespread need for a more flexible and user-friendly to consume content online. To validate this need, he surveyed over 300 individuals, confirming the demand. 

What do you expect from the Venture Leaders Fintech roadshow, and how will it help you achieve your vision?
Participating in the venture leaders’ program will give us exposure to a wider network of potential investors and increase the probability of establishing strong client partnerships.

Meet potential wallet partners: 
•    Monzo, Revolut, Wise, Starling, and Monese

Meet potential business partners: 
•    In News: Economist, Financial Times, Telegraph, In Your Area, Times & Sunday Times, The Sun, Mirror, Daily Express
•    In Live Streaming: Organizers of Conferences, Festivals.
•    Sport Streaming: Clubs offering game passes, Womens, Academy 

Meet new potential investors: 
•    Atomico, Balderton, Hedosophia, Concept Ventures, Molten
 

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What are your team’s key achievements to date?
Our key achievements include raising USD 2.5M in pre-seed funding in September 2024, launching Tiun Release 1.0 in September 2023 and 2.0 in January 2024, onboarding our first 30 business customers, and expanding sales efforts across the DACH region.

What is the most challenging and rewarding aspect of being a founder?
The most challenging aspect of being a founder is managing uncertainty. You're constantly making decisions with incomplete information, balancing product development, team building, and market demands, all while trying to scale efficiently. It can feel like you're always one step away from failure. But that’s also the most rewarding part — the opportunity to create something from nothing, solve real problems, and see your vision take shape in the world. 

What is the most important lesson you have learned as a founder?
The most important lesson I've learned as a founder is that execution beats ideas every time. A great idea is only as powerful as the effort, resilience, and adaptability you put into bringing it to life.

What is your favorite productivity hack/tool and why?
My favorite productivity tool is Superhuman because it completely transforms how I manage my emails. Its efficient keyboard shortcuts allow me to quickly process and triage messages without breaking my workflow. The clean, distraction-free interface helps me stay focused, and features like follow-up reminders, advanced search, and read receipts ensure I never miss important communications. Superhuman’s ability to integrate seamlessly with my calendar and CRM also makes scheduling and managing tasks effortless. Overall, it helps me stay on top of my inbox while saving valuable time, boosting both my efficiency and focus.

What was your dream job when you were a child?
When I was a child, my dream job was to become a painter. I loved the idea of creating something unique with every brushstroke. Painting gave me a sense of freedom and creativity, allowing me to explore different ideas and emotions in a way that words couldn’t always capture. Even though I eventually pursued a different path, that love for creativity and design has stayed with me and continues to inspire me in my work today.