Insurtech startup vlot joins two Plug and Play batches

«Today’s social security systems are complex and difficult to understand for the average person», says Sandro Matter (right), CEO and cofounder of vlot. While job cycles have become shorter and forms of living have changed significantly in the past two decades, life insurance products have remained static long-term contracts.

Zurich-based startup vlot, which was founded by Matter and Daniel Schmidheiny (left) in 2017, wants to change this. Its platform will provide customers with easy access to an understandable personal life risk assessment and flexible coverage, which can swiftly be adapted to changing life circumstances using artificial intelligence algorithms. «We’ve gone very deep in terms of technology and user experience to make sure customers get a proper, free analysis to start with», explains Matter.

Sparking national and international interest

Now, vlot is busy preparing its market entry. Having recently joined not one but two batches of the prestigious Plug and Play accelerator in Munich and Silicon Valley, the startup has also attracted interest from insurance players from Germany and the US. «We laid the ground for first international expansion steps specifically leveraging the Plug and Play ecosystem», says Daniel Schmidheiny, COO of vlot.

Before expanding into the EU and US market, however, the insurtech startup has several big projects coming up in Switzerland. Vlot has entered a B2B2C partnership with a not yet disclosed Swiss-based insurance carrier and landed a pilot project with another Swiss insurance carrier, which will be implemented in the first half of 2019 after an evaluation phase taking place right now. Further partnerships and pilot projects are a possibility, since vlot was part of the 2018 Kickstart cohort, helping them establish contacts to the Swiss corporate world.

Vlot’s web platform will be directly accessible to end-customers in the beginning of 2019. In the meantime, Matter, Schmidheiny and their five team-members will also be focusing on their B2B white label solutions for major insurance companies, banks and banking software providers – and expanding the team. «It is crucial for us to continuously keep on expanding the team and attracting new talent», says Schmidheiny.

(Picture: vlot)