Here’s why Munich Re acquired Startupbootcamp Amsterdam alumnus Relayr for €250 million

German IoT middleware startup Relayr which offers end-to-end commercial and industrial IoT solutions has been recently acquired by Munich Re, the reinsurance company based in Munich, Germany for €250 million ($300 million). This investment will be used to propel the IoT strategy of the insurance group and develop solutions for clients.

Founded in 2013, the Startupbootcamp Amsterdam alumnus Relayr is one of the pioneers in offering IoT solutions back then. Later the same year, the company took part in a 3-month NFC & Contactless accelerator program at Startupbootcamp Amsterdam, which is one of the leading startup and corporate innovation programs in the world.

Ever since then, Relayr has maintained the focus on IoT solutions for the industrial sector. And, it progressed to become a leader in the category. It is also one of the most promising Startupbootcamp portfolio companies across the world. Also, Relayr is one of the top 3 European startups of 2017.

The acquisition of Relayr

Relayr had partnered with Munich Re and HSR back in 2016. With the latest acquisition, the startup will be able to strengthen its insurance and financial offerings while expanding through the large client base of Munich Re and leveraging its domain expertise and grow its business. Relayr can use the acquisition to evolve its innovative value stack, cost reduction, enable new revenue models and increase effectiveness across the industries.

Relayr IoT platform

Relayr offers industrial companies digitalise their business with its comprehensive services. It has developed a platform for companies to connect new and legacy hardware and software in order to extract and analyse data from objects such as equipment and machine. Using this platform, it is possible to find when a machine might fail and conduct maintenance to make sure such a situation doesn’t arise. Eventually, companies can improve processes and profitability, cut the cost, improve the product quality and the energy efficiency.

“IoT is already significantly changing our world and has the potential to disrupt the traditional insurance and reinsurance industry through new business models, services and competitors,” said Torsten Jeworrek, member of Munich Re’s board of management. “I am truly happy to announce this acquisition, as it supports our strategy to combine our knowledge of risk, data analysis skills and financial strength with the technological expertise of relayr. This is our basis to develop new ideas for tomorrow’s commercial and industrial worlds.”

“We are delighted to strengthen our relationship with Munich Re/HSB to push digitalization in commercial and industrial markets and strive for our mission to help commercial and industrial businesses stay relevant,” said Josef Brunner, CEO of Relayr. “The unique combination of the companies demonstrates the importance to deliver business outcomes to customers and the need to combine first-class technology and its delivery with powerful financial and insurance offerings. This transaction is a great opportunity to build a global category leader.”

With the acquisition, both the companies can actively shape opportunities in the IoT market segment that is growing rapidly. Relayr will benefit with this acquisition and Munich Re can develop new ideas for the commercial and industrial worlds of tomorrow. The technological expertise of Relayr will combine with the knowledge of risk, financial strength and data analysis skills of Munich Re.

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