Helvengo

Helvengo AG was a Swiss-based insurtech firm founded in Zurich in 2020 by Benedikt Andreas, Felix Huemer, and Vedran Pranjic. The founding team leveraged their prior experience as employees at the insurtech company Wefox to address inefficiencies in the commercial insurance market. The company operated as a managing general agent (MGA), acting as an insurer on the front end while partnering with established insurance and reinsurance companies, like UNIQA and Munich Re, to cover the risks.

Helvengo focused on providing digital insurance solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), startups, and entrepreneurs. The business model aimed to solve common challenges in the SME insurance sector, such as complex offers, non-transparent premium structures, and slow, analog processes. Through its digital platform, clients could perform a risk analysis and receive customized, automated quotes for products like professional liability, cyber, and D&O insurance in minutes, a process that traditionally could take weeks. A key distribution strategy was a B2B2B approach, enabling insurance brokers to better serve their SME clients through a digital toolkit. Revenue was generated through the sale of these insurance policies.

A distinct offering was its IoT-based building insurance. This product integrated sensor technology to detect risks like water leaks early, aiming to mitigate damage and reduce loss ratios for properties. The data gathered from these IoT devices enabled more individualized risk assessments and fairer premium pricing. In a significant development, Helvengo's German subsidiary, Helvengo GmbH, which housed its core business and the IoT insurance solution, was acquired in mid-2024 by ease GmbH, a German specialist broker for the real estate industry with whom Helvengo had partnered since late 2022. Following the sale of its core operations, the Swiss parent company, Helvengo AG, was dissolved and entered liquidation in July 2024.

Keywords: insurtech, MGA, SME insurance, digital insurance platform, commercial insurance, IoT insurance, data-driven underwriting, building insurance, risk analysis, cyber insurance, professional liability, D&O insurance, broker tools, property insurance technology, loss mitigation, Vedran Pranjic, Benedikt Andreas, Felix Huemer, Wefox, ease GmbH