BanFin, Germany’s financial regulator, has given Getsafe, the digital insurer, an insurance license which will enable the company to accelerate its expansion throughout the rest of Europe.
“The license is a significant milestone – especially when considering that the German regulator has set out stricter rules for new registrations following the Wirecard scandal”, Christian Wiens, CEO and founder of Getsafe, states. The company that started in 2017 as an MGA has high ambitions of becoming Europe’s leading digital insurer, and has already started its expansion by launching in the UK. It is serving 250,000 customers.
With a license of its own, Getsafe can now both accelerate its European expansion and build products and innovations quicker than before. The company has closed a reinsurance agreement with Swiss Re, which co-led its $93million Series B round. “We can now passport our license within the European Union and take full advantage of our technological platform”, Wiens says. New European markets like France are under consideration for expansion next year.
Getsafe currently offers home and car insurance and has plans to expand into more verticals – like life and health – in the coming years. Via the app, customers can buy, manage, and adapt their policies as well as file a claim on the go – all in just a few seconds.
“We don’t only want to do insurance differently, but we want to make it unconditionally better,” Christian Wiens explains. Customers already benefit from a transparent and digital process. Going forward, Getsafe plans to develop new approaches in product development and claims handling. Christian Wiens states: “We will reduce the time it takes to regulate claims and offer even more services via the app. At the end of the day, Getsafe customers are also benefiting from better prices.”
In October, the company announced the extension of its series B funding round, which takes Getsafe to $115million raised to date. With the new capital and a quarter of a million customers, the company ranks among the largest insurtechs in Europe. It is backed by several notable Venture Capital Funds like Earlybird and CommerzVentures as well as Swiss Re.
Following the fundraise and the license, Getsafe is eyeing a public debut in the future. “We have a quarter of a million young customers who will grow with us for an IPO,” Wiens says. “We’re growing our customer base faster than our competitors and can soon offer more complex products. The insurance license gives us the necessary freedom to take unconventional paths and to realise innovations quicker than before. In the long term, we want to offer our customers holistic insurance coverage from a single source. Now we’re really getting started.”
