Berlin / Abu Dhabi — In Series B, the Wefox Group receives financing in the amount of USD 125 million. Mubadala Investment Company, sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi, leads the round — the capital comes from the newly launched European Ventures Fund. In addition, Creditease, a Chinese fintech, is joining the Berlin-based company to help with its expansion in China. In addition, the US bank Goldman Sachs is investing. Additional funds are contributed by existing backers: Horizon Ventures, Idinvest Partners, Seedcamp, Speedinvest and Target Global are again on board.
Insurtech wants to expand into the Asian market
The insurtech also wants to expand: the focus is on the Asian market. Insurtechs are becoming increasingly popular with investors. They are creating business models that can digitize a previously largely analog market and are thus following on from the success of fintechs. These have been digitizing the banking industry for years with the financial support of large investors and sometimes also through partnerships with established players. Take N26, for example: in January, the fintech raised USD 300 million and joined the club of Unicorns. Insurtechs create similar added value. Startups give insurers the option to modernize their own business via outside innovation. Not only financial investors but also large corporates are reacting to this with increasing commitment: Allianz, for example. In February, the Group increased the volume of its venture capital arm Allianz X to EUR 1 billion.
A legal dispute has delayed the big funding round, says startup CEO Julian Teicke. The lawsuit filed by U.S. competitor Lemonade against Wefox was about copyright infringement, among other things, and the two companies reached a settlement several months later.
Insurance brokers can digitally manage their customers’ policies via the Wefox platform. Customers have access to their insurance policies via the Wefox app and can report claims or clarify questions. Insurance One is also part of the parent company Wefox Group.
With the help of the Wefox platform, smaller insurance brokers can digitize their insurance policies , around 1,000 are expected to use the startup’s service. For the end customer, Wefox’s app has the advantage that various insurance policies can be managed in one place. In this way, a claim or a change of insurance can be organized via smartphone. The brokers receive a so-called portfolio commission per insurance policy, which they share with the startup.
Wefox plans to use the money from the financing round to expand, including outside Europe. In cooperation with the former Softbank subsidiary SBI, the project is to be launched in Japan. A total of 200 employees work for the Berlin-based company