Newly created companies that develop technology for the insurance world have an increasing role. The so-called insurtech already have an added value in Europe of 23,000 million euros, according to the latest report from the specialized fund Mundi Ventures.
The insurance sector is being increasingly affected by the entry of these new players. Investment in insurtech still lags behind other sectors, but is growing at a much faster rate: 4.1 times globally from 2016 to 2020, compared to 1.8 times for all venture capital investment.
European tech and insurance startups are now worth six times more than in 2016, when these types of companies were still just starting out.
Investment in insurtech in Europe has also reached € 1.8 billion in the first five months of 2021, a 13-fold increase over 2016. Insurance is evolving from the pure transfer of risk to service-based models and ecosystems, including risk prevention and auxiliary services.
Javier Santiso, founder and CEO of Mundi Ventures and the Insurtech I fund (with 100 million euros): “We benefit from 360-degree visibility on movements and the main insurers and the disruption of those of fast-growing emerging players. Increased competition is creating a breeding ground for innovation that will transform the insurance industry for the benefit of citizens. ”
Europe is starting to see the first big insurtech companies emerge like in health insurance (Alan), liability insurance (Zego) and software as a service for insurers (Shift Technology).
The largest on the continent, which has just closed a world record round of 650 million euros, is Wefox in Berlin, the main portfolio company of Mundi Ventures. This company is already worth $ 3 billion and plans to go public in 2022.
The European insurtech has been highly focused on the United Kingdom (40%), Germany (29%) and France (18%), which attracted more than 85% of the funding since 2016. Spain, like Italy and the Netherlands only captured the two%.
Contrary to the usual cliché, London is not the only city that encompasses companies of this type. Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin stand out widely as well. Wefox, for example, is a digital insurance company driven by a single purpose: to make people safe and prevent risk by reinventing insurance at scale through technology. It has closed at the end of May, a record series C financing round for an insurtech as we mentioned, 650 million dollars, market value 3 billion dollars. Its main operational headquarters is in Barcelona.
