Traditional insurers actually believed they had repulsed the attack by newcomers. Most of the startups either cooperate with them or have disappeared. But now the Getsafe company is receiving approval.
The Heidelberg insurance start-up Getsafe can now officially act as an insurer. After around 18 months, the company received approval from the Bafin financial supervisory authority. So far, Getsafe had worked on behalf of other companies.
The approval is so important precisely because the financial supervisory authority tightened the requirements for digital insurance companies – so-called insurtechs – at the beginning of the year. Since then, the Bafin has required significantly more equity before granting the license.
The move comes as a surprise to traditional insurers. Most believed they had repulsed the attack by the newcomers. There are many insurtechs out there, but only a few have an insurance license. These include Element, Coya and Neodigital – and now Getsafe.
The company operates complex technology and advertises that it can insure its customers in just a few minutes via an app. So far it has been doing this as a so-called underwriter: Getsafe develops policies, organizes sales, checks the risks and pays out the damage. But the risk itself is borne by the reinsurer Munich Re in Germany and the specialist insurer Hiscox in the UK.
Reinsurer becomes shareholder Swiss Re
In the future, the Heidelberg company will act as an insurer itself. That gives a lot more freedom. However, like most insurers, Getsafe needs a reinsurer. This is Swiss Re, which is also a shareholder. Getsafe likes to sell its policies via the comparison portal Check24, which is known for its high commission demands. This could also affect the cost of the Getsafe policies.
Today’s CEO Christian Wiens and Marius Simon founded the start-up in 2015. According to its own information, the company has around 250,000 customers, 225,000 in Germany and 25,000 in Great Britain. It is planned to transfer a large part of the existing liability and household contents contracts to the company’s own portfolio.
The latest round of funding has strengthened Getsafe. At the beginning of October, the start-up collected 55 million euros after having received 25 million euros from investors in December 2020. In addition to Swiss Re, wealthy families from German-speaking countries and venture capitalists Earlybird, Abacon Capital and Commerzventures took part in the current round.