Getsafe, the European digital-first insurance startup, scores $30M Series B

Getsafe, the digital-first insurance startup that initially launched with an app for home contents insurance, has closed $30 million in Series B funding.

Swiss Re, the reinsurer giant, led the round. Existing investors, including Earlybird and CommerzVentures, also participated. Getsafe has raised a total of $53 million to date since being founded in May 2015.

The company says it plans to extend its Series B funding with a second tranche to be closed ahead of the company launching products powered by its own insurance licence, scheduled for the first half of 2021.

Pitching itself as a digital insurer aimed at millennials, Getsafe’s first product offers flexible home contents insurance, along with other “modules,” such as personal possessions cover (which insures possessions out of home) and accidental damage cover. Available in the U.K. and Germany and delivered via an easy to use app, the idea is that you build and only pay for the exact cover you need.

Getsafe, the German insurtech, brings its contents insurance app to UK

Co-founder and CEO Christian Wiens tells me Getsafe currently has 150,000 active customers and that 90 percent of Getsafe users buy insurance for the first time. “We sell more policies to first-time insurance buyers in Germany than incumbents like Allianz, Axa, Zurich, etc,” he says.

Asked why Getsafe is moving to its own insurance license, Wiens says it will enable the insurtech to innovate with new products faster. “It’s better to have an insurance license, acting as a broker creates no innovation,” he says, adding that insurance is a “marathon” and a long term play.

“We hoped to navigate regulation faster and be able to use more existing software, but needed to build most tech from the ground up,” says Wiens.

Meanwhile, the new partnership between Getsafe and Swiss Re is already bearing fruit. Last month, the pair launched digital car insurance optimised for smartphones. “With just a few clicks, users can purchase insurance with the Getsafe app, file a claim, and manage their policy in real time”.

“You can cancel or discontinue the coverage any time e.g. if you don’t use the car in winter months or during summer holidays, just switch it off,” explains the Getsafe CEO.

You can also add up to five co-drivers to your coverage for free in the app. “In 2021, we plan to test driving behaviour based pricing,” adds Wiens. “We [will] track your driving with the app and you save money if you drive safely”.