Exchanges hold the funds of their customers. The customers have no control over their private keys and have to fully trust. This trust has been betrayed many times already either by fraud or cybercrime.
Currently, there is a high barrier to enter the cryptocurrency world, since exchanges are bound to verify users. On top of this, trading platforms typically offer an interface, which is too complex for first-time traders.
Fees for converting between real money and cryptocurrencies vary a lot. Fees are often hidden, for example behind intransparent exchange rates. They might be even higher than 10%.
For first time buyers, interacting with companies can take a lot of time. There is the need for registration and often verification with government ID. In some cases this can take up to a couple of weeks, making the experience very frustrating.
The founders first met at the I2C (Innovation Incubation Center) entrepreneurship class at the Vienna University of Technology. They share a passion for cryptocurrencies and one common problem - converting Cryptos to Fiat money and vice versa. This is why they decided to start Coinnecting and thus create a bridge from the real money to the cryptocurrency world.