InsurLab Germany enables shortest sales cycle in InsurTech history: Zurich Germany and KASKO agree on POC within 3 working days
KASKO has reached another milestone in record speed. We are extremely pleased to announce yet another partnership with one of the giants of the insurance industry in Europe, namely Zurich Germany.
InsurLab Germany is Germany’s largest networking platform for startups and the insurance industry, where KASKO is currently part of the first accelerator group. Zurich’s Alexander Bernert, (Head of Retail Market Management) became Mentor to KASKO’s CEO & Co-Founder, Nikolaus Sühr as part of the programme.
After an initial meeting between Alexander and Nick as part of InsurLab Germany ‘s kick-off session, both agreed that there is ample opportunity to collaborate. Shortly afterwards, Alexander introduced Nick to several people within the Zurich Innovation Lab. This is a newly formed group managing products and markets not in silo structures, but focused on several target segments and their respective life needs. A long corporate and startup project cycle was expected ahead for KASKO and Zurich, as is usual in case of proof of concepts.
However, during a business trip to London, Nick received a call from Markus Ludwig introducing himself as follows: “Hi Mr Sühr, I work in the Zurich Innovation Lab and I am in a bit of a predicament. We have a hard launch deadline coming up in a few weeks’ time and we are looking for a flexible partner that enables us to bring this new product to market in no time.”
This took place on a Thursday around midday. After a couple of calls, it was clear that the initial deadline would not work in order to deliver the expected product and distribution channels. Thus, Markus and Nick agreed to propose a slightly later launch to senior management with a higher product-market fit for the MVP. The green-light to go with KASKO came the next Monday at midday and the project kicked-off on the same day.
Sebastian: We started InsurLab Germany to create a central networking platform for international InsurTechs with the German insurance industry. Our core focus is bringing startups and insurers together to get to know each other, learn from each other and ultimately, start cooperation projects and develop Proof of Concepts that can develop into long-term partnerships. We are very pleased to have KASKO as part of our first accelerator batch as we are convinced of the collaboration potential between KASKO and our corporate members. To be honest though, when Nick told me they just closed Zurich in three days and would go live before the end of the program, I was positively surprised. It’s a confirmation of our startup scouting and match-making with the corporate members, and also identifying the right decision makers within insurance companies to bring them together successfully. I would not be surprised if this were the first of many PoCs coming from Zurich and other InsurLab Germany’s corporate members working together with KASKO. J
Nick: “We believe in collaboration, ecosystems, and execution. Since we are supporting insurers to follow product and distribution opportunities time- and cost-effectively under high uncertainty, we try to structure our engagements in such a way as to focus on the opportunity at hand without triggering a larger fundamental discussion about capabilities, sourcing and IT-architecture. This usually enables us to get from lead to POC commitment in 3–6 months. However, the drive and willingness of Zurich Germany to overcome internal barriers to decide and execute fast have absolutely took us by (positive) surprise. We are looking forward to proving our worth as an enabler and building the foundation for a long-term partnership.
KASKO is one of five startups of the InsurLab Germany Accelerator Program, which was launched in April 2018. The six-month program has already achieved many successes at half-time. More details on the individual projects as well as on the project presented between KASKO and Zurich will be available at the official InsurLab Germany Demo Day on October 8, 2018.
By Nikolaus Sühr
About KASKO
KASKO Ltd is an InsurTech solution provider offering an end-to-end, modular, insurance platform, which enables insurers to create, launch, run and continuously optimise digital insurance products in any distribution channel quickly, cost-effectively and flexibly. Specific features include:
· White-labelled front-end as a plugin solution
· Quote, offer, and bind functionality
· Payments and redistribution
· Policy administration
· After-Sales Customer Self Service Portals
· Claims: submission, auto. processing & pay-out, bespoke workflow
Contact:
Nikolaus Sühr, nsuehr@kasko.io, www.kasko.io
About the InsurLab Germany e.V.
InsurLab Germany is a young industry initiative of the German insurance industry, right now 58 insurance companies & industry-related service providers are active members of the platform, plus InsurTech startups and universities. It is a think tank for innovation and digitization, and promotes sustainable cooperation between German and international startups and established insurance companies.
Based in Cologne (Germany), the InsurLab Germany Campus is an attractive hot spot with a co-working space for German and international startups and for digital business units of the member companies. The Hub also offers members and startups a variety of formats, including networking events, intensive workshops, innovation journeys, access to conferences, and exposure to relevant investors and corporates. The platform is part of the digital hub initiative “de:hub” set up by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy and an important competence location for the InsurTech scene in Germany. It was founded in 2017 by the City of Cologne, Cologne Chamber of Commerce, Cologne University, Cologne Technical University, insurance companies, and startups.
Contact:
Sebastian Pitzler, MD
InsurLab Germany
Schanzenstraße 6–20
51063 Köln
info@insurlab-germany.com
www.insurlab-germany.com
