Vienna Insurance Group, together with three other investors, created the investment company Venpace GmbH & Co. KG formed in Cologne, which aims to find, financially support and make use of young international technology companies, according to a group’s press release.
According to it, in addition to Vienna Insurance Group, which holds a 25% stake in the new company, Ideal Insurance Group, Provinzial Rheinland Versicherung AG and Prisma Life AG also became the investors and founders of Venpace.
“We want to take advantage of the growing insurtech scene and its innovative ideas to further expand our range of digital products and services. We are intentionally investing in the early stage of future-oriented start-ups, in order to generate medium-term returns while spreading the risk over multiple investors,” CEO Elisabeth Stadler said.
Venpace might also be used for corporate venturing aimed at realising ideas with start-ups founded specifically for this purpose. The initial focus will be on life insurance and digital points of contact with customers.
The new investment company will build up and manage equity investments in technology companies over a period of ten years. The minimum investment of the four shareholders is EUR 1 million over the next five years. In addition, investors can invest directly in companies of interest to them through Venpace and thus efficiently leverage the start-up expertise and capacities of the investment company.
