With its innovative SaaS offering, Thinksurance is revolutionizing consultation and distribution of commercial insurances

Many industries are proof that digitization has the power to revolutionize sales processes. This also holds true for the insurance market – an industry with great potential! Some market participants already gave a glimpse at what might be possible in the future. For example, big data might change the way insurers develop and price their products. Digital interfaces will allow a faster and easier insurance process for brokers. And customers will profit from higher service standards. The time of new innovative business models has come. There now are various innovators in the insurance segment, but one that stands out from the rest is Thinksurance. Thinksurance connects insurers and distributors with modern technology and reinvents the commercial insurance segment by providing a holistic consultation and sales platform. With its fully automated customer consultation platform, Thinksurance makes the lives of brokers and insurance companies easier by enabling them to find the best insurance for their business clients digitally and faster.

But Thinksurance is also a game changer for insurers: With the help of real-time Data Analytics, insurers gain insights on how their products are performing and thus, empowers them to adapt their tariffs to market more efficiently in order to be more successful. All in all, the new digital insurance consultation and distribution processes’ significance are that they provide more transparency and efficiency to all parties involved. This radical idea is reason enough to dive deep in what Thinksurance is and how the company is operating. We there met Florian Brokamp, CEO and Co-Founder of the Germany based start-up, for a chat.

In conversation with Florian Brokamp, Co-Founder and CEO of Thinksurance

What are the issues addressed by your platform?

When we first launched our platform, the market for commercial insurances equalled a digital Stone Age. Lengthy paper-based processes and high manual effort for everyone involved used to be daily business. Moreover, the market offered no transparency at all – neither for insurers nor for brokers and customers. Insurers developed products without any knowledge about the actual demand. The only way for brokers to compare different tariffs was to look up insurance conditions manually. Therefore, in 2015, when a former colleague and I founded Thinksurance, there were no data-driven approaches. With our software, we were finally able to change this as well as many other outdated insuring processes: first, we digitalize the broker’s entire consulting process and enable him to minimize manual tasks and thus, allow him to save a significant amount of time. Second, we revolutionize the insurance industry by providing insurers with data and analytics that help them to optimize their portfolios in the long term.

How has emerging technologies contributed to the success of your business?

As an insurtech, technology is the heart and soul of our success: we leverage modern technology to provide a fully digitalized insurance process to our customers. Our platform is completely digital, our work with Big Data Analytics strives to build up an Artificial Intelligence. To achieve that, we are currently focusing on how to extract the most out of the data we already have. For example, we are figuring out how we can use natural language processing in order to improve our questionnaires so that brokers provide all relevant information from the get-go. This in return, will help insurers to make better offers faster and without making additional contact.

How did you come up with the plan of the platform?

When we first launched in 2015, Thinksurance – or Gewerbeversicherung24 as we called ourselves back then – was equally focussed on online brokerage for commercial insurances. But soon we noticed that the majority of commercial customers place their trust in insurance brokers and thus in long-term and personal relationships as well as direct advice. Therefore, after only six months, we decided to focus completely on B2B. That is the reason we now provide a holistic consulting and sales platform for commercial and industrial insurances. Today, our platform not only adds value for brokers and how they sell commercial insurances but also for insurers and how they optimize their tariffs.

How did you manage to convince the majority of market participants to join your platform—what’s your key to success?

First of all, we had a great product. But to create a great product, we needed a strong team. At Thinksurance, we firmly believe that the interplay between tech expertise and industry knowledge is highly relevant to be successful in the complex area of commercial insurances. That is why, in addition to outstanding developers, most people we employ have worked in the insurance industry for at least a couple of years. At Thinksurance, everyone can deploy his or her unique strengths – that is what makes us so successful.

But a great product and a strong team can only be the starting point. As a young entrepreneur in the insurance industry, it is crucial to prove that you know what you are doing. Therefore, we showed potential partners that not only did we have great technology expertise, but also understood the insurance market. I proved to them that even as a young entrepreneur I could meet them at eye level and provide value to their business.

What can we expect from Thinksurance in the future?

Within only 5 years, Thinksurance have become the leading insurtechs within the sector of commercial insurances in Germany - but we have even bigger plans for the future! Not only do we continuously develop and extend the value chain according to the needs of our user. To accelerate our impact and continue digitalizing the market for commercial insurances on a global scale, we plan to also provide our innovative technology in foreign markets. Therefore, we currently prepare to launch the Thinksurance platform in France. But our expansion plans go even further. In the next years we plan to expand in other European countries.

Meet the leaders behind the success of Thinksurance

In 2015, Thinksurance was founded by former McKinsey & Company consultants Florian Brokamp and Christopher Leifeld. As the CEO of Thinksurance, Mr. Brokamp brings a lot of expertise in digital business building and product development. In addition, he has a special touch for people as well as for organizational and strategic decisions. This year Mr. Brokamp was even honored twice to be one of the best CEOs in Europe in 2020. Mr. Leifeld brings added value through his know-how in sales, marketing and the insurance industry alike. He is the visionary who continuously drives platform development to the needs of the users. Thinksurance GmbH has already been launched in 2015 under the brand “Gewerbeversicherung24” (GV24) as an online comparison portal and online broker for small and medium sized businesses. However, the company very quickly recognized the strengths and potential in providing added value not only for businesses but also for brokers normally consulting these businesses. Consequently, since 2016 GV24 has developed from an online broker to a technology company with a strong focus on insurance distributers and insurers. To make the distinction clearer, the company was renamed Thinksurance in 2019. Gewerbeversicherung24, on the other hand, has become a marginal topic and is used as a test laboratory to develop and test new features.

“All relevant insurance companies are already partnering with us leading to unrivaled market coverage in commercial insurances.”