Press release

FinLeap to build a digital insurance platform

- Company builder FinLeap is extending its engagement in the digital insurance market

- With Element, FinLeap is building a fully digital insurance platform

- Element is going through the licensing process under the German law on the supervision of insurance companies (VAG) of the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin)

Berlin, 20 March 2017

Company builder FinLeap is further committing to reshape the insurance industry. With Element, FinLeap is introducing a fully digital platform, going upstream in the value chain to custom-build the very core of insurance and enable products and services that meet demands of the modern age.

The name intentionally refers to chemistry, where bringing together the right combination of elements results in creation of something new and advantageous. By combining various insurance services and partners, the business model of Element will create useful and unique insurance propositions. Hence, Element is going to fulfil customers’ requirements individually and will hopefully also improve the “chemistry” between consumers and their perception of insurance.

Element is focusing on B2B2C distribution, and the list of possible partners that will be able to integrate Element products ranges from established digital companies to InsurTech ventures that build new protection-focused business models and brokers who want to extend their portfolio with digital services. Furthermore, even incumbent insurance companies can partner up with Element in order to modernise their processes and bring innovative products to market faster.

Insurance distribution is often limited by the way products and services are provided by traditional insurance businesses. Currently, the industry is not able to provide solutions that deliver to a generation of smartphone users while fully meeting their expectations and distributors’ requirements. With Element, FinLeap is now introducing an "insurance-as-a-platform" service in order to meet these requirements.

“The infrastructure that we offer to our partners will enable them to create innovative and digital solutions. They know their customers’ needs and any solutions created out of those needs are naturally the most promising ones,”  Ramin Niroumand, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at FinLeap, states.

Element submitted a license application under the German law on the supervision of insurance companies (VAG) to the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) to become a risk carrier offering private property and casualty insurance products for home, liability and accident lines that enable a large portfolio of retail protection products.

Element’s steadily growing team consists of digital entrepreneurs, industry experts and technologists. Wolff Graulich joined Element’s executive board as a founder, bringing in experience from AXA, Roland and ARAG. The engineering side of the challenge is managed by Henning Gross, founder and CTO, who previously had a leading position in technological innovation at Axel Springer.

Ramin Niroumand: “FinLeap’s vision is to digitise the financial industry by creating new business models. For us, that does not stop at banking but also extends to the insurance segment. With  Clark we successfully digitised the customer interface. With Element we now also want to increase the degree of innovation and automation in insurance products and processes.”

The first step in digitising the insurance industry was taken in June 2015 when the digital insurance broker Clark was founded. Using their app, customers can identify at first glance how good their insurance coverage actually is. In addition, Clark’s robo-adviser offers recommendations for improvement. In early 2016, solarisBank, the first banking platform with a full German banking license, was launched. Using APIs, partners of solarisBank can access modules for instant credits, e-money and digital banking that are offered by solarisBank and third parties. Just recently, solarisBank closed an international funding round worth €26.3 million and plans on expanding its business to Asia.

For more Information on Element check:

www.element.in

About FinLeap

FinLeap was founded in Berlin in the summer of 2014 by HitFox Group and Ramin Niroumand as a company builder specialized in Fintechs. FinLeap serially develops Fintech companies, supporting them with strong infrastructure and guiding their growth. Besides Element, eleven other ventures have been brought to market providing services for private and corporate clients. The FinLeap ecosystem includes, for instance, FinReach, which offers among others a solution for switching bank accounts; PAIR Finance, a solution for digital debt management; Clark, a digital insurance broker; and solarisBank, a digital platform with a full German banking license. Each venture is based on the solid FinLeap foundation that provides not only seed funding from €0.5 million up to €5 million but also a strong network of investors, an integrated development platform and advice on best practice processes. In addition, the company builder provides contact to experienced businesses, clients and top talents in the industry. FinLeap’s team is made up of more than 400 employees from more than 30 countries. The company’s headquarter is located in Berlin.

Press contact:

Solveig Rathenow // Email: solveig.rathenow@finleap.com // Phone: +49 176 321 44 053