Swiss Helvetia Venture Fund Adds Spanish Insurtech to Its Investment Portfolio

Swiss venture firm Helvetia Venture Fund has invested in Spanish insurtech startup company Freshurance. With the additional capital, Freshurance will participate in Sandbox Spain, as well as expand its marketing and develop the product technologically.

The insurtech has launched a peer-to-peer mobile phone insurance for the Spanish market under the name Cobertoo. Cobertoo’s target groups are millennials and Generation Z with a smartphone.

It is a peer-to-peer (P2P) insurance model from a behavioral economics point of view, as the clients have incentives to avoid unnecessary damages to their devices. The entire insurance process, including claims settlement, shall be handled digitally.

Under the peer-to-peer approach, policyholders pay a monthly membership fee of EUR 1 and monthly premiums for the insured mobile phone, dependent on the model. Freshurance receives the membership fee and 25 percent of the premium.

The remaining 75 percent of the premiums are pooled. Claims are paid from this pot. 75 percent of everything that remains in the pot is returned to the policyholder in the form of a cash back. The other 25 percent is donated to NGOs for charitable purposes.

With its investment in Freshurance, Helvetia is gaining insights into the Spanish insurtech market and further knowledge of peer-to-peer business models.

Markus Gemperle

“Helvetia has already gained a lot of experience in the insurance of items such as mobile phones. With Freshurance’s peer-to-peer insurance, we are gaining further insights into an exciting market for Helvetia”,

explains Markus Gemperle, CEO Europe of Helvetia.

Featured image credit: Courbevoie (Helvetia France)