Accelerator Program

We support 10 – 15 startups / scale-ups each year to enter the German insurance market and to scale their operations.

The program is open to both national and international startups / scale-ups. We are looking for innovative solutions or services that add significant value to the operations or ecosystem of an insurance company.

New Business Models

Customer Centricity

Core Tech & Transformation

Digital Health

Sustainability

Each participating startup will be matched with at least one mentor from the top management of our member companies who will support and advise them intensively throughout the entire duration of the program. The joint objective will be to develop pilots or projects together and start implementing them.

We offer VIP access to our national and international network of business angels and VCs. Participating startups can furthermore present themselves to our investors on the Investor Pitch Day to network and receive valuable feedback from market experts.

Participation is free of charge, i.e. startups do not have to give up shares in their company.

Startups in the category „START“ will receive a financial contribution of 3,000 Euros.

We offer exclusive access to our broad network as well as numerous networking events, pitch opportunities at our InsurLab Germany Events as well as (inter-)national conferences and many other industry events.

We also help our Accelerator startups to promote their development and achievements during the program via our social media channels and website.

The startups will receive flex-desks and free access to the InsurLab Germany Campus in Cologne that is also working home to some of our member companies.

We offer access to products and services of our member companies (e.g. IBM, Amazon Web Services) worth up to 60.000,- Euro.

Market and product maturity

• High-potential startups with a good market understanding of the German insurance industry
• Must have a prototype or MVP
• Should not be older than 1-2 years since founding date

Program objective

• “START”-founders will get support to further develop and validate their product/service. The aim is to start first pilot projects within our network and by doing so, to enter the market successfully.

Participation

• Founders should preferable use the InsurLab Germany Campus as main location (should it be allowed in light of the pandemic) and must personally attend all of the program’s workshops, seminars and events.

Financing

• Startups must be able to sustain operations for the duration of the program. The applications are open for bootstrapped startups or with financial traction.

Market and product maturity

• At least one product / service already on market objective to scale further
• Should have at least one cooperation with an insurer/corporate as proof of market fit (revenue-generating)
• Should not be older than 3-5 years since founding date

Program objektive

• “GROWTH“-founders will get support to scale their business by partnering with the insurance companies and partners within our network. The aim is to develop projects together that will be launched during or at the end of the program.

Participation

• Founders should ideally ensure their own participation in the program’s workshops, seminars and events. Personal attendance in the selection competition, program kick-off, Investor Pitch Day und Demo Day as well as in pitch trainings is mandatory.

Financing

• Startups must be able to sustain operations for the duration of the program. The applications are open for bootstrapped startups or with financial traction.

“The Accelerator Program 2019 has made a decisive contribution to placing the topic of bancassurance and the added value of account data for holistic ‘digital’ consulting based on PSD2 in the insurance industry. Thanks to the close cooperation with our mentors, Deutsche Rück and EY, we were able to develop new product ideas and convince decision-makers in customer workshops of the added value of PSD2. The pension plan, which is automatically calculated on the basis of the client’s salary, or the holistic consulting service based on account data – to name just a few use cases. In short: the Accelerator Program 2019 was a great experience! Thanks to the organizers!”

“As a member of InsurLab from its early days, we already had a very good picture of the initiative with the individual programmes and the ambitions of the individual member companies. However, the Growth Accelerator has once again shown a very different perspective on the opportunities between start-up and insurance companies. It is great to see and experience what can be achieved when established companies join forces with young companies. For us, this clearly meant new products, new partnerships and new customers. That’s the way we wanted it!”

“As a start-up from outside the industry, there could not have been a better way for us to map our product to the insurance market. InsurLab helped us sharpen our product for financial service providers in a very short time.”