Berlin-based wefox, an insurtech unicorn, has secured €151M funding, which includes €76M raised mainly from existing investors and €75M from refinancing a credit facility with Searchlight Capital Partners’ credit fund, Searchlight Opportunities Fund II.
This funding comes after completing a restructuring program, which involved selling wefox Insurance AG in Liechtenstein and the Italian companies wefox MGA S.r.l. and wefox Services Italy S.r.l. to funds managed by J.C. Flowers & Co., a global private investment firm dedicated to investing in the financial services industry.
With this funding support, the German company aims to achieve profitability by the end of 2025.
Fund utilisation
The new funding will enable the company to build out its strong market positions in Austria, the Netherlands, and Switzerland and to develop its asset-light Managing General Agent (MGA) and smart insurance distribution businesses internationally.
In Austria, the company provides the most advanced digital platform for retail insurance brokers, making it the leading wholesale broker in the country.
In the Netherlands, the company is the top player in the term-life insurance market under the TAF brand, offering award-winning services through its full-service MGA model.
In Switzerland, wefox ranks highly in retail insurance distribution and is expanding its customer services to offer complete risk advice for individuals.
With the successful completion of the refinancing, the composition of the board of directors of wefox Holding AG has changed.
Prateek Puri, Partner at Searchlight Capital Partners and Joachim Müller, CEO, have joined the board. Julian Teicke, Fabian Wesemann, Dario Fazlic and Nikolaus Frei have now left the board.
wefox: Making insurance simple through technology
Founded in 2015 by Julian Teicke, Fabian Wesemann and Dario Fazlic, wefox is a European insurtech that claims to be driven by a single purpose: to make people safe and prevent risk by reinventing insurance at scale through technology.
A fully licensed digital insurance company, it sells insurance through intermediaries and not directly to customers. wefox is the parent company of wefox Insurance – an in-house regulated insurance carrier.
Its platform connects insurance companies, distributors, and customers to give them easy access to digital insurance solutions.
The goal is to keep people safe by making insurance ten times better through technology.
Joachim Müller, CEO of wefox Holding AG, comments, “Changing customer needs, new regulatory requirements, and new technological capabilities are transforming the insurance value chain. Our strengths and our focus on MGA and smart distribution services make us an attractive partner for risk carriers and downstream brokers.”
“We believe that our compelling offering and our smart, asset-light business model will create value for our customers, our business partners and our investors. I would like to express my gratitude to my team and all employees who have contributed to our successful transformation, as well as our investors for their continued trust and support. I would also like to thank the outgoing board members for their support and collaboration, and I look forward to working with Prateek on the board,” adds Müller.
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