The State of European Insurtech 2021

Insurance is a massive global industry ($6 trillion) that has been largely undisrupted for centuries. A new generation of startups, accelerated by the pandemic and new customer demand are accelerating innovation. Our latest report in partnership with Mundi Ventures, shows that European insurtech startups are now attracting record levels of investment and are worth a combined €23B.

• Insurance is a global $6 trillion industry that is increasingly seeing the entrance of tech-enabled insurtech challenging or augmenting incumbents.
• Insurtech remains underinvested compared to other sectors but is now growing much faster (4.1x globally from 2016 to 2020, compared to 1.8x for all VC investment).
• European Insurtech startups now have a combined enterprise value of €23B, a more than 5x increase from €4B in 2016.
• Insurtech investment in Europe is growing faster than anywhere else in the world, and has already reached €1.8B in the first five months of 2021, a 13x increase vs. 2016.
• Insurance is evolving from pure risk transfer to service-led models and ecosystems, including risk prevention and ancillary services.

The new report marks the launch of the new Insurtech database, tracking the insurtech innovation ecosystem, cataloguing 3,000+ startups, 2832 funding rounds, and 1,112 exits of innovative companies addressing all parts of the insurance value chain and market segments. This open-access platform powered by Dealroom.co, with the support from Mundi Ventures, will be the new online home for insurtech intelligence.

Insurtech has been underinvested, but is now scaling up and attracting increasing levels of capital

Insurance is a huge $6 trillion industry, characterized by a fragmented value chain and scarce digitalization of the processes which provides challenges for keeping up with customer demand. This has opened opportunities for the entrance of tech-enabled insurtechs aiming to disrupt the industry. Insurtech has been so far underinvested relative to the size of the industry and compared to other sectors, but is now growing much faster. Investment has increased 4.1x globally since 2016, compared to 2.6x Health and 1.4x Fintech.

2021: the year of European insurtech

2021 is proving to be a turning point for European Insurtech, VC investment has already reached €1.8B in just five months, already a 13x increase vs. 2016 and an all-time high. European Insurtech startups now have a combined enterprise value of €23B, up from €4B in 2016.

The future of insurance: ecosystems and prevention

The role of insurance is evolving. Insurance is increasingly becoming embedded into platforms and coupled with other services, from repairs and maintenance, to health services and prevention. Insurance is therefore moving beyond pure risk transfer to risk management and prevention, fueled by an exponential increase in the availability of data. This shift will be the determining factor in which companies will be around into the next decade.

Julian Teicke, Founder & CEO, wefox, said: “Availability of contextual data will change the role of insurers from offsetting risk to actually prevent it, shifting the role of insurers into service companies. That is insurance getting in its sweet spot. This will make the difference between the companies that will be around or not in 10 years.”