Topics
Latest
AI
Amazon
Image Credits:Getsafe
Apps
Biotech & Health
mood
Image Credits:Getsafe
Cloud Computing
Commerce
Crypto
Enterprise
EVs
Fintech
Fundraising
gizmo
Gaming
Government & Policy
ironware
Layoffs
Media & Entertainment
Meta
Microsoft
Privacy
Robotics
security measure
societal
Space
Startups
TikTok
Transportation
speculation
More from TechCrunch
event
Startup Battlefield
StrictlyVC
newssheet
Podcasts
video
Partner Content
TechCrunch Brand Studio
Crunchboard
Contact Us
European insurtech company Getsafe has evolve deineStudienfinanzierung , an aptly name German digital platform for student loans that was showcased on the local interpretation of “ Shark Tank”in 2019 .
This is Getsafe ’s second attainment in a few months , after itnabbed the German portfolioof ailing French insurtech companyLuko , thereby growing its user base to over 550,000 customers . But this metre , the Heidelberg - based caller is win more than clients .
While terms of the softwood were n’t unwrap , TechCrunch has exclusively learned from Getsafe CEO Christian Wiens that deineStudienfinanzierung will cover operating as a standalone business and that all of its team — “ about 10 hoi polloi ” — will continue to be utilize after the acquisition .
In drill , deineStudienfinanzierungwill keep on helping scholarly person apply online for publicly subsidized loans offer by itspartner , German state camber KfW. This has been the startup ’s core focus ever since it pivot away from also facilitating Duncan Grant practical app ; all in all , it has assisted some 200,000 students in receiving over € 1 billion in bailiwick funding since its creation .
If this amounts to less than € 5,000 per pupil , it is because demand for student loans in Germany is different from what you may know , Wiens explain .
“ Student loan are the 2d most democratic form of extraneous scholarly person funding in Germany after [ grants ] . Unlike in the U.S. , universities in Germany are largely tuition - spare , which means that student loans are generally used to wrap up living disbursement . Therefore , the mean pupil loan amount is much low-pitched in Germany than in the U.S.
COVID boosted demand for student loan because many pupil could not do their side jobs due to the lockdowns ( for example , working in bars and eating place ) . Many lose their main root of income overnight and had to turn to alternative ways to cover their living expenses . The financing volume has give back to premature levels since . ”
Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Just like Getsafe did n’t invent insurance , deineStudienfinanzierung did n’t invent educatee loans . Instead , both are work a digital - first coming that direct to link up more organically with young hoi polloi .
In insurtech , too , business models are n’t one - size - fits - all
Overlapping targets
Despite plans to keep matter separate , Getsafe is very much skip that there will be synergies between the two business that go beyond their shared imagination . “ With deineStudienfinanzierung , we are now a relevant fintech musician for scholarly person , ” Wiens said .
For Getsafe , this is an chance to get acquaint with its future clients before they even cogitate of talking to a factor . On average , it takes about two eld for pupil who obtain a loanword on deineStudienfinanzierung to secure their first job — and Getsafe is here for it .
In a nation where Contents or Renters insurance is not a compulsory product , entering the chore food market is a more common trigger for getting insurance than hire an flat , Wiens said . “ We realized that to become their insurer of choice , we must opine one footmark in the lead . ”
Getsafe CEO opine that deineStudienfinanzierung ’s exploiter may be even more tender to financial risk than the average first - clip employee . “ When you take out a loan and get going repaying it after you commence your first job , you are more conscious of the fact that you trust on your income . So this becomes a natural trigger to conceive , for model , income protection insurance . ” ( This is one of the policies that Getsafe bid , alongside message and personal liability insurance policy . )
When postulate whether insurance was a just fit for deineStudienfinanzierung to leverage its user base than banking , its laminitis , Bastian Krautwald , replied affirmatively .
“ The subject with banking is that most client already have a camber account from an early geezerhood . By the time customers apply for a student loan , the barrier to switch are quite high . However , with insurance , it is unlike . It is not rare for young citizenry to deal with insurance for the first time in their mid - twenty dollar bill , ” Krautwald assure TechCrunch .
This was a soused interrogation : Krautwald also co - founded Wajve , by and by be intimate as OWWN , a banking product point at deineStudienfinanzierung ’s customer and direct audience . But the fintech offeringnever made it out of its examination phase , with OWWN instead partnering up with neobank N26 to plug a specialdiscountfor its beta users and those on its wait list .
What’s next
OWWN , Wajve and deineStudienfinanzierung did n’t only share a chief operating officer ; they shared a parent company , FiRec GmbH , which raised € 5 million in funding from investors includingEQT Ventures,468 Capitalandfinleap , as well as German business holy person . Getsafe has now acquired FiRec in its entirety , while Krautwald will remain in his role as CEO of deineStudienfinanzierung .
“ We anticipate deineStudienfinanzierung to grow solidly and profitably as a standalone business sector this twelvemonth , ” Wiens tell . “ However , short - terminus tax revenue prey are not our primary goal , as this learning has mainly strategic value to us to better understand and access our target customers when they calibrate . ”
Will there be more strategical acquisitions in Getsafe ’s near future ? “ We are currently not actively looking for targets , but with two acquisition under our belt , we are ready to explore and prosecute opportunities quickly when they come up , ” Wiens said .
We wo n’t hold our breath for it , but we ’ll keep closer track of another hint that Getsafe gave in its press release : that it is looking to “ expand further to serve even more European markets ” than the four nation where it already work .
