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Last year, Germans spent a total of €217 billion on insurance. But many processes in this financially strong industry are still carried out manually and on paper. It's no wonder, then, that numerous startups are stepping up to lead insurers into a digital future. But that's not all – some young companies are offering insurance themselves, challenging the industry giants.
Insurtech startups as new insurance companies
The new insurance category includes, for example, GreenThe startup, founded in 2016 by Marie-Luise Meinhold as a cooperative, aims to become Germany's first sustainable insurance company. To achieve this, Verde not only aims to be transparent with its investments, but also to consider their ecological and social impact. We introduce the startup starting at minute 6:10.
Private health insurance Ottonova (from minute 9:20), on the other hand, aims to impress customers with its services. Founded in 2015 by Roman Rittweger, Sebastian Scheerer, and Frank Birzle, the insurance company doesn't have to laboriously digitize itself, burdened by legacy processes, but instead launched directly as a purely digital provider. This way, Ottonova aims to be more flexible and faster than its competitors.
Solutions for insurers and brokers
However, new insurance companies are the exception in the insurtech world; most startups are instead working on solutions that help existing insurers enter the digital age. For example, Xbav (from minute 12:15) has developed a platform solution for company pension schemes. The startup, founded in 2007 by Martin Bockelmann, uses it to connect insurance companies, brokers, employers, and employees, thus eliminating paperwork.
Motionscloud, which we'll introduce you to starting at minute 15:20, helps insurance companies with claims settlement. Instead of having an expert personally examine each accident, the startup has developed a solution that takes over this work thanks to artificial intelligence. This should automate up to 80 percent of damage analyses. Motionscloud was founded in 2016 by Lex Tan and Pablo Duy K. Vu.
A solution directly for insurance brokers has Munich General Insurance Services (from minute 18:10), better known by its brand name Mobilversichert. The startup offers them an infrastructure for digitally managing and administering their customer base. This allows them to access all relevant customer data even on the go. The startup, founded by Manuel Stroeh in 2014, also eliminates a lot of paperwork.
Insurtech also means Fintech
Since insurance is also about finance, the transition from insurtech to fintech is fluid. Hardly any startup illustrates this better than Banksapi (from minute 20:15). The banking-as-a-service provider provides a programming interface (API) for banks and insurers, allowing users to access their accounts, credit cards, building society contracts, and securities accounts through any of the contractual partners' front-end applications.
Money for Everstox
In our second topic (from minute 25:35) we introduce you to another logistics startup. Everstox is building a network of warehouses and fulfillment service partners and linking them with a tech platform for transparent processing. Berlin-based investor Flash Ventures—which we also discuss—believes in the Munich-based company's vision and is supporting it with 3 million euros.
