2016, two friends and the desire to help shape the future. 2017, two founders, one idea and the step to drive the digital future of tomorrow. Five years later, two founders, one idea and a team of over 130 employees are shaping the future of today and tomorrow solely with an app and a proprietary technology. Nect Wallet, the digital wallet that simplifies everyday life and is set to become Europe's largest ecosystem.
An idea, a vision and a path paved by strong partnerships. Partnerships that offer Nect a colorful bouquet of opportunities to establish their idea and to go live with the technology just one year later after founding.
The Nect founders Carlo Ulbrich and Benny Bennet Jürgens
In 2018, Benny Bennet Jürgens and Carlo Ulbrich learned the R+V Insurance at the annual general meeting of InsurLab Germany. The insurer and the Hamburg-based start-up are both member companies of the Cologne-based initiative. Just a few months after getting to know each other, the two announced at another joint InsurLab event that there would be a joint project. In September 2018, Nect and R+V went live together with what was then known as Selfie-Ident, now Nect Ident. This partnership was the first step towards a digital ecosystem to provide users with a new kind of user experience.
Good partnerships as well as a good network are two of many stones needed to pave the way to an established company. Opportunities fostered by initiatives such as InsurLab Germany to help shape digital progress.
In 2018, we started a joint journey with the Cologne Hub that is still bearing fruit four years later. From the first live walk, to participation in the 2019 Accelerator Program in the Growth category, with strong support from mentors like Dr. Arne Barinka and the Ideal Insurance, today with the Rhineland Insuranceand Carlo Ulbrich's membership of the InsurLab board. It is therefore all the more important not only to be given the opportunity to support and promote oneself, but also to allow others to share one's own expertise and help shape the transformation of the industry. This way, joint collaborations and opportunities between established insurance companies and startups can be fostered and co-created. Something that was made possible by Carlo Ulbrich's inclusion on the board.
Together with InsurLab, further success stories were written by May 2022, whether through strong partners such as the Debeka or IBM, with whom they jointly won the InsureNXT Innovators Award for the first time. A digital health partnership to provide an e-health credential for everyone. Joint collaborations that could be created through a common partner like InsurLab.
Starting the journey with only an idea and a vision is a challenge that many young founders face. It is a fast-moving journey that can be compared to a race on the Nürburgring: the attempt to always be in the fast lane. Acquiring customers, growing the business, entering new markets, expanding, these are all phases and laps that should not be underestimated, but with a strong team and partners, these phases can be mastered to face further challenges that you grow together. A racer is only as good as the team behind him, which has the technology in mind.
A partner like InsurLab Germany offers young start-ups the opportunity for further development and access to an established industry where transformation is the focus. InsurLab Germany is a companion for the future.