Digital natives are revolutionizing the finance and insurance industries. In Bavaria, these entrepreneurs in question find particularly good conditions to build their business. Munich, the capital of Bavaria, is one of the world’s leading insurance locations – roughly 100 insurance companies employing over 60,000 people are headquartered there, among them Allianz — the world’s largest insurance company – and Munich:Re, a global player in reinsurance. Altogether, these companies generated revenues of 1.4 Billion EUR in 2016. Consequently, it is them who attract international InsurTech startups to the region. In turn, the fresh-faced knowhow the startups bring into the ecosystem further increases Munich’s attractiveness as an insurance location.
A look at the numbers illustrates the importance entrepreneurs have gained for the insurance industry in a comparatively short period of time. Most of all, investment into German InsurTech startups has been growing exponentially. As a result, they secured 82.4 million euro in funding in 2016, representing a 206% year-over-year growth. Therefore, the new companies and their technologies are accredited with ever-growing importance.
Naturally, several startups from Munich have been a part of this success:
Munich is determined to expand this record. Hence, its appointment as the InsurTech Hub for the German federal government’s Digital Hub Initiative could turn into an important step along that way. This initiative intends to create dense collaborative networks between academia, economy and international partners in key sectors of the German economy, and to institutionalize them in the respective German region best-suited.
For the InsurTech Hub, the government identified the the ideal partner in the Werk1.Bayern GmbH – an incubator, co-working and event space in Munich. Werk1 launched the W1 Forward InsurTech accelerator in collaboration with several leading insurance companies in 2015. Among those collaborative partners are local champions as well as foreign heavyweights such as Swiss:Re. Currently, the program is working with its second batch, comprised of Etherisc, HeartShield, Karlsson, Personiq and Tapoly.
Last Wednesday, the most important Bavarian insurance enterprises have registered the InsurTech Hub Munich association. It serves as a strategic control unit. Most noteworthy, its two aims are to step up Munich’s position as a pioneer of insurance digitization, and to shape Munich into an ever-more attractive location for the world’s best startups in the field.
One day later, the Bavarian State Minister of Economic Affairs, Media, Energy and Technology, Ilse Aigner, officially launched the InsurTech Hub in Munich. Among the ceremony’s attendees were investors, startups, and the directors of several Bavarian insurers. Munich’s mayor Schmid and the president of the German Federal IT Association (Bitkom) Berg complemented them. This illustrious group represents the determination behind the InsurTech Hub. Consequently, the Hub has recorded its first success: In November 2017, Munich will host the DIA conference. It is the largest InsurTech event worldwide.
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