Cologne, Germany, Oct. 9, 2018 - At the end of the first round of the InsurLab Germany Accelerator program, the five selected startups presented their results to the member companies of the industry initiative. Due to the great success, InsurLab Germany is planning a second batch for 2019.
On October 8, 2018, more than 70 representatives of InsurLab Germany member companies gathered at the InsurLab Germany Campus in Cologne-Mülheim to learn more about the successes, challenges and developments of the initiative's first five accelerator startups at the big InsurLab Germany Accelerator Demo Day. In addition to the participating startups - KASKO, Motion-S, Polywizz, RightIndem & StilFresh - InsurLab Germany CEO Dr. Mathias Bühring-Uhle and Elfi Scho-Antwerpes, First Deputy Mayor of the City of Cologne, were also on stage to congratulate both the startups and the InsurLab Germany team on the results of the last six months.
Four success stories and one important insight
Nick Sühr, founder of KASKO, explained that with the help of the InsurLab Germany Accelerator he was able to win three new project partners within a very short time. Motion-S founder Guido Scheffer is pleased about an investment sum of one million euros, which he recently secured with the support of InsurLab Germany. Oliver McGuiness, Director of Product Development at RightIndem presented his solution to improve the claims process and is also in close exchange with some InsurLab Germany member companies. StilFresh used the Accelerator program to build a spin-off together with IBM. With Optimiz, they want to create a platform that redefines claims settlement in the transportation industry. They are already in the testing phase with their product. During the program, the Israeli startup Polywizz decided to focus only on its home market for the time being and to venture into Germany again at a later date.
Nia Escobar, Startup Network Manager at InsurLab Germany and mainly responsible for the accelerator program, is very satisfied with the results: "The startups have developed a lot in the last months. I am happy that we as InsurLab Germany were able to contribute to their growth and would like to take this opportunity to thank all the mentors and partners who have been actively involved in the program." Each startup was assigned two main mentors from the top management of member companies, in addition to several expert mentors. A total of 32 mentors from member companies and network partners accompanied the startups through the program and provided them with advice and support.
An accelerator program with clear goals
"Our accelerator program focuses primarily on the concrete implementation of projects, which is why we accompany our accelerator startups intensively for six months instead of three months, as is often the case with other programs. During this time, we give the participating startups access to our broad network, deal with their individual challenges, and accompany them step by step in their search for suitable cooperation partners - and all this without demanding company shares from the startups, as is usually the case. Our members and we are solely concerned with promoting innovative ideas and advancing the digitalization of our industry. This is what we stand for as InsurLab Germany," summarizes Sebastian Pitzler, Managing Director of InsurLab Germany.
A second round of the program is planned for 2019. The application phase for startups will begin at the end of the year.
About InsurLab Germany
InsurLab Germany is a platform for networking insurance companies and startups that develop digital products and services for the insurance industry. The industry initiative was founded in 2017 by the City of Cologne, the Cologne Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the University of Cologne, the Cologne University of Technology, as well as established insurance companies and InsurTech startups.
The goal of InsurLab Germany is to provide insurance companies with easy, direct access to national and international startups and to actively support them in planning and implementing joint projects to sustainably transform and digitize the German insurance industry.
As one of twelve hubs in Germany, InsurLab Germany is part of the digital hub initiative "de:hub" set up by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and is the official competence center for the InsurTech scene in Germany.
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