2023 marked a special year for ELEMENT, on our 6th anniversary since we started business. It has been our best year to date, with growth exceeding 100% and remarkable achievements and significant strides across various dimensions. From revolutionary product enhancements to strategic partnerships and international expansion, ELEMENT has not only adapted to market changes but has also positioned itself as a trailblazer in the ever-evolving insurance landscape of Europe. In this article, we delve into five key successes that have shaped ELEMENT's journey, showcasing the company's commitment to innovation, collaboration, and continuous growth.
Arno Bussmann, Commercial Director
Product Refinement, Strategic Partnerships, and Market Adaptation
2023 was a remarkable year of growth, enhancing ELEMENT's standing across multiple dimensions. Our focus on product refinement, particularly in areas such as pet and bike insurance, involved adjustments to pricing strategies to reflect market dynamics. Improving communication channels and introducing features in response to partner needs helped to streamline the approach and reduce manual effort. Our strategic objectives have been the scaling of specific products, adaptation to market changes and precision in meeting partner requirements.
We took our work with partners to the next level, achieving impressive results and significant growth with our existing partners. Through an iterative approach, we learned from experiences, refined successful strategies, and discontinued less effective ones. In particular, pioneering products such as pet insurance, where legacy information was limited, underwent a process of testing and adapting to reach 25,000 active policies – a testament to our persistence and adaptability. In response to market needs, we expanded our product range to include cat insurance, building on the success of our existing offerings for dogs. During this 2023 that now comes to an end, our collaborative approach with partners remained central to our strategy, giving them the confidence that they can rely on ELEMENT.
Tim Kaltofen, VP Sales Strategy and Steering
Navigating Growth and Strategic Expansion
In what has undeniably been our best year, not only have we grown over 100%, but we've successfully built a substantial client base. Achieving such milestones as a young company is a proof to our commitment and expertise in navigating the complexities of the insurance landscape.
Our strategic expansion into several new EU markets broadened our horizons and provided invaluable insights into the challenges of regulatory environments. Adeptly navigating such questions, we continue to drive our key proposition—being one insurer for the entire European market—positioning us as trailblazers in the industry. Recognizing that the vast majority of our success comes from the MGA business, we're committed to taking this trajectory to the next level. Looking ahead, our strategic focus on partnerships, especially with MGAs, aligns seamlessly with international trends. While this facilitation and risk carrier model for MGAs is in its early stages in Germany and the EU, it has already gained significant traction in the US. Our commitment to a more interconnected and responsive risk transfer ecosystem is evident in addressing MGA needs, such as risk sharing or access to more capacity. With a lean primary insurer as their partner, our MGA partners can therefore focus on their technology and sales by embedding insurance products. Fronting and reinsurance solutions are an integral part of our strategy, with a focus on supporting our partners to build and scale their products,
Fabian Fischer, Head of National Sales
Exemplary Partnership Collaboration
Reflecting on 2023, our journey with over 100 partners has been a valuable learning experience. We took a deep dive into understanding which partners and products yield the best results. Recognizing the need for internal adjustments to nurture these connections, we responded by establishing a robust Key Account Management system. By doing this, we're not only setting the stage for our partners' growth but also initiating a dedicated account management team focused on existing partnerships, committed to fostering and developing sustainable relationships.
Our approach involves setting a clear product focus, with a particular emphasis on key offerings like car warranty, pet, other warranty or for Intermediaries. This strategic focus is supported by clear frameworks that outline how we best collaborate — providing partners with a blueprint for precisely what to expect, reinforcing reliability in our partnerships. As we gaze into the future, the groundwork laid in 2023 becomes evident for profitable growth in the years ahead.
Concrete examples illustrate our commitment to growing together with partners like Intec, Meneks for mobility, and Panda for pet insurance, or Schutzgarant and Hepster in the Warranty area, DAA for intermediaries. showcasing the success of our strategic approach. This marks not just a year's end but the beginning of a trajectory where partners will continue to share in our anticipated growth.
Laura Kauther, Commercial Director
Collaboration as Key to Industry Development
Driven by technological advances and changing customer needs, the insurance industry is facing significant disruption. The cooperation between Insurtechs opens up access to innovative ideas, technologies, and solutions that might not be available to those that that are not inclined to collaborate.
Insurtechs can use synergies by overcoming challenges together, while sharing technology platforms and data sources increases efficiency and reduces development costs. At the same time, customers increasingly expect personalized and user-friendly insurance solutions. Through these collaborations, customer needs can be better understood and met by developing tailored offerings, such as self-service functions for contract management and efficient claims settlement.
At the same time, extensive data sets from different providers can be combined to provide more in-depth and privacy-compliant insights into risks and customer behavior, resulting in more accurate premiums and better insurance packages. Best practices and experiences can be shared to meet regulatory requirements and ensure compliance.
An example of how such synergies can be used efficiently is shown by the collaboration between hepster and ELEMENT Insurance. The MGA model practiced by hepster illustrates the advantages of such collaborations. hepster acts as product and process owner and takes over all product functions, while ELEMENT Insurance acts as risk carrier. This clear division at the level of the supply chain elements enables an even distribution of resources and shows how such collaboration is possible successfully.
Francesca Cossu, Head of International Sales
Our stong International Mindset
Our vision at ELEMENT is to make the delivery of insurance as seamless as possible for our partners across the EU. By venturing into new geographies, we aim to create an unparalleled experience for our partners, redefining the landscape of insurance delivery. Our international projects exemplify our commitment to internationalization as a key for growth, innovation, and ultimately, a resounding success story.
Responding to the expectations of the Lithuanian company Warranty Expert of growing further and expanding into new European markets, ELEMENT is supporting their needs as an insurance carrier by enabling the business to scale across multiple geographies simultaneously. Following their successful entry into the Finnish market in July this year, the partnership's success story is about to reach a new level with the recent launch of their innovative solutions in Ireland. Central to their offerings are extended warranties and insurance products, with a particular emphasis on Micromobility (eScooters and eBikes), aligning perfectly with the upcoming progressive eScooter legislation in Ireland. The lean approach provided by the Berlin-based Insurtech is possible thanks to its deep product and underwriting expertise and proprietary technology and platform.
Conclusion:
As we reflect on the successes of ELEMENT in 2023, it is evident that this has been our best year to date. From redefining product offerings and fostering collaborative partnerships to navigating international markets, ELEMENT has demonstrated resilience, adaptability, and a forward-thinking approach. The strategic focus on innovation, exemplary partnership collaboration, fronting in the insurance landscape, and international expansion positions ELEMENT as a key player in shaping the future of the industry. As we eagerly anticipate the journey ahead, ELEMENT's trajectory is marked not just by the achievements of the past year but by a clear vision for continued growth, customer-centric solutions, and a commitment to being at the forefront of industry transformation.