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Tiegoo is one of the participating young startups in this year's Accelerator Program of InsurLab Germany. CEO and founder Andreas Becker answers our questions. He tells us what exactly is behind the young company Tiegoo and how the startup is developing.
Andreas, what exactly is behind Tiegoo?
Andrew: Tiegoo is an "Insurance as a Service" startup. Following this motto, we have created the first German animal health card and an artificially intelligent emergency system. Analogous to the insurance card for humans, we are building the platform for an ecosystem by integrating animal owners, insurers and veterinarians, as well as other important and relevant user groups, and enabling the exchange of digital data.
That sounds very interesting. How did you become aware of this market niche and how did your startup come about?
Andrew: The idea for the foundation basically came on the train during a business trip. As I am a horse trainer myself, I once again received a message that one of my customer's horses was in a very bad way and the owner couldn't reach her family veterinarian and didn't know how to get to the nearest horse clinic. It was clear to me then that we urgently need something like an emergency assistance and a digital exchange of health and emergency data in this area. This ultimately gave rise to the idea for the invention of the animal health card and the creation of a digital platform for transparent and secure data transfer in the animal health sector.
Where are you at with your startup right now? What are your next goals?
Andrew: We started as a relatively young startup, just under a year ago with the idea and the direct implementation. Currently, we are in the phase of defining concrete pilot projects with veterinarians and entering into benefit partnerships with insurance companies in order to build up and expand the ecosystem for the animal insurance market step by step. A big milestone for us is the first round of investments we are in to grow our team in the coming weeks.
That sounds like a positive and formative development for you. You are part of the Accelerator Program this year in the "Start" category. What is your current time like in the InsurLab Germany Accelerator? Who are you working with and what benefits are you already receiving?
Andrew: The InsurLab Germany Accelerator is exactly the right platform for us to make our startup known and to get in touch with established companies. The network contacts within the program are like a launch pad and invaluable for us, especially during the "startup" phase. The added value of using the brand "InsurLab" means for many corporates that you have already proven the use case of your idea in front of an expert jury and that there is a general interest in your project. This often makes it easier to get started in the discussions. Within the program, we receive support from Helvetia, among others, who provide us with three partners to help us plan the pilot project. We have also found a contact partner for our financing needs in W&W Brandpool and two partners from Rheinland Versicherung, who offer their support and sponsor us in the areas of product development and marketing.
As a startup, where do you see the biggest challenge in working with corporates?
Andrew: As a young startup, you are breaking new ground and finding solutions quickly. This is not always easy for established corporates to understand. The factors time and money are essential for us as a startup. Here, there is often a discrepancy with potential partners who have long decision-making processes. Time that a startup does not have to go to market as a competitive advantage. We have also noticed that the whole topic of "startups" is new territory for some corporates, and so in some cases they do not yet have a clear idea of how to deal with the issue. This is where programs like the InsurLab Accelerator Program come in, which I think corporates should pay much more attention to and include in their projects.
If you look 5 years into the future, where do you see Tiegoo?
Andreas: We wish that in 5 years Tiegoo has positioned itself as a brand on the market, so that every veterinarian and pet owner knows this name and we as "Insurance as a Service" partner, are an integral part of the insurance industry.
What kind of contact are you looking for right now?
Andrew: We are currently running pilot projects for veterinary practices and clinics. For this purpose, we are looking for additional insurers as benefit partners to participate in these pilots in order to help develop new insurance and service concepts.
Tiegoo "Insurance as a Service" startup - Interview with Andreas Becker I Accelerator Stories
