The SMB insurance market, teeming with a massive potential of 24 million businesses across Europe, has long suffered from a dearth of innovation. The insurance offering to these companies is hindered by a lack of user-centricity as traditional brokers and managing general agents (MGAs) adhere to a one-size-fits-all approach, relying on outdated product and distribution strategies. SMBs often go ignored by providers as a result.
The crux of the issue lies in the uniqueness of each SMB – from the verticals they operate in, their business models, and the fluctuating risk profiles. This complexity has made managing insurance portfolios a daunting task, causing businesses to juggle various carriers and tools, often leading to incorrect coverage or outright negligence of risk updates. Consequently, SMBs face the prospect of receiving only partial claim payouts or, in the worst cases, no payment at all – a situation that puts their very existence at stake.
In this scenario, German insurtech startup SureIn has closed a €4 million seed round for its mission to provide end-to-end insurance solutions to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The funding round was led by Pact VC and will be used to develop the SureIn platform further, improve product automation across the lifecycle and expand the range of insurance products to healthcare and pension in existing and new verticals such as professional services and startups.
SureIn will use the funding primarily to expand its team in technical areas to build out the platform, improve product automation and increase operational efficiency.
As part of its Seed round, SureIn was also backed by German VC fund xDeck and renowned business angels such as Warrick Shanly, solo GP and founder of Koro Capital; Robin Haak, solo GP and founder of Robin Capital; and multiple fintech and insurtech angels, like the exited founder of Gabi insurance Vincenz Klemm. Previous investors of SureIn also include Arc, Sequoia Capital’s pre-seed and seed stage catalyst and Atlantic Labs.
Daniel Dierkes, CEO and Co-founder of SureIn, said: “Our experience in the market shows no SMB entrepreneur really knows their risks and which insurance they need. When they come to us, we can see their former contracts all had gaps in their protection. Clearly, there is something wrong in this market. With this in mind, our overarching mission is to dispel the opaque nature plaguing the industry, empowering founders with insights into their risks and the insurance products best suited to shield against them – all the while securing top-tier products at competitive prices.”
SureIn is changing the scenario by bridging the insurance gap for SMBs, starting in Germany. The company has built a proprietary platform with an end-to-end insurance infrastructure designed around the needs of SMBs, sparing the necessity for them to build their own systems, subscribe to third-party tools, or deal with conventional brokers to obtain or update coverage.
Monik Pham, Founding Partner at Pact VC, commented: “SMBs are the backbone of Europe as they make up 99 percent of all businesses, accounting for more than half of the GDP across the market. Yet they are severely ignored by insurers. SureIn’s solution uniquely places them to change the insurance market by providing fair access to products, smoothing out market inefficiencies and empowering businesses to take control of the risks posed to their livelihoods. We are proud to be backing this incredible team who have spent most of their professional lives building tools and products for SMBs in insurance and scale-ups that have reached IPO.”
Since its launch in early 2022, SureIn has expanded into multiple industries, while the platform has quickly generated over €1 million in gross written premiums. The company has supported a range of businesses of different sizes and is close to achieving its 1,000th SMB client.
George Robson, Partner at Sequoia, said: “We partnered with SureIn early on because we strongly believe in the team’s mission. As businesses’ needs change, so does their risk situation, and so should their insurance coverage. SureIn is constantly monitoring these changes to make sure clients’ coverages are up-to-date. We believe this is a game changer for the industry, and many entrepreneurs will benefit from this at such a crucial point in their businesses’ journeys.”
SureIn currently specialises in the following verticals: hospitality; retail; beauty and wellness; services; and craft and construction businesses. By adopting a vertical-led distribution and expansion strategy, SureIn dives deep into the risk and service requirements of each segment it serves, ensuring tailored and up-to-date risk protection. The company is one of the few InsureTech businesses to have an automated risk monitoring system keeping policies up-to-date, ensuring optimal risk protection at all times.
