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☆ Middle East wealth funds are scrambling to rescue their big bets on the future
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-08 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Go to newsletter preferencesSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. A particular focus for these funds built on the back of petrodollars has been to build ownership and influence in the tech sector. FETHI BELAIDOver the past week, PIF and Mubadala have been busy figuring out what to do when their unbridled ambitions for tech companies face reality. Reports from the Financial Times and Bloomberg have shone a light on efforts being made by the sovereign wealth fund to boost returns in European startups in which it has invested billions of dollars. AdvertisementSeveral of these nascent tech companies, such as the insurance firm WeFox, have been bruised by shifting sentiment in the markets in recent years.

Persons: —, Abu Dhabi's Mubadala, SoftBank's, ByteDance, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Peter Rawlinson, Lucid, John Keeble, Rawlinson, PIF, it's, Mubadala Organizations: Service, Saudi, Public Investment Fund, Business, PIF, Financial Times, Bloomberg Locations: Middle, petrodollars, Saudi, California

☆ Deutsche Bank and UniCredit back $4.5 billion insurance startup Wefox with $55 million in fresh funds
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Wefox, the $4.5 billion German insurance technology group, has raised $55 million of fresh funding from Deutsche Bank and UniCredit , two anonymous sources familiar with the deal told CNBC. The deal was structured as a convertible debt agreement, meaning that the debt will be converted into equity when Wefox next raises cash, the sources told CNBC. The fresh funding follows on from a $55 million debt round Wefox raised from JPMorgan and Barclays and a $55 million internal fundraise earlier this year. As Wefox didn't raise equity, its valuation remains unchanged at $4.5 billion. Wefox is also pushing into a new model of selling insurance called "affinity" distribution.

Persons: Wefox, Goldman Sachs Organizations: Deutsche Bank, CNBC, JPMorgan, Barclays, VC, Salesforce Ventures, Target, Horizon Ventures, UBS, Mubadala Capital Ventures, Jupiter Asset Locations: U.S, Germany, Paris, Barcelona, Milan

☆ JPMorgan and Barclays back $4.5 billion insurance tech giant Wefox
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

German digital insurer Wefox said Wednesday it raised $110 million of fresh funding from backers including JPMorgan and Barclays . The news marks a vote of confidence for the insurance technology space at a time when it faces tough macroeconomic headwinds. Wefox is a Berlin, Germany-based firm focused on personal insurance products, such as home insurance, motor insurance and personal liability insurance. Wefox said it raised the fresh funds through a combination of debt financing and fresh equity. A further of $55 million equity investment was led by Squarepoint Capital, a global investment management firm with $75.7 billion in assets under management.

☆ Insurance startup Wefox maintains $4.5 billion valuation as it taps up investors and lenders for $110 million in fresh funds
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

German insurance tech startup Wefox has raised $110 million in a mix of debt and equity. Wefox, which counts Target Global and Mubadala among its backers, has kept its $4.5 billion valuation. Half of the fresh funds come in the form of debt funding from Barclays and JPMorgan. Wefox, an insurance tech startup backed by the likes of Target Global and Mubadala, has raised $110 million in a mix of debt and equity funding as it pushes to become a profitable business. The remaining $55 million is made up of debt funding from Barclays and JPMorgan.

☆ 'Investors changed the rules of the game overnight.' The CEOs of Rapyd, Revolut, Wefox, and Klarna look ahead to fintech in 2023.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

After a bruising year for the sector, fintech startups are prioritizing profitability. The CEOs of Revolut, Klarna, Wefox, and Rapyd outlined the new reality for consumer-facing fintech. "Investors changed the rules of the game overnight," Rapyd CEO Arik Shtilman told Insider. "Investors changed the rules of the game overnight," Arik Shtilman, CEO and founder of $15 billion fintech Rapyd told Insider at the Slush conference in Helsinki. Regardless of whether a focus on profitability has been pushed by investors or not, the tide has now turned for the fintech sector in Europe.

☆ CEO of $4.5 billion tech firm slams his peers over layoffs: 'These are humans'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

HELSINKI, Finland — The boss of European digital insurance startup Wefox offered a damning response to tech companies that have laid off workers en masse. Swedish fintech firm Klarna was among the first major employers in tech to slash jobs this year, cutting 10% of its workforce in May. Several companies have followed suit, from those in Big Tech to venture-backed startups like Stripe. Julian Teicke, CEO of Wefox, told CNBC he is "disgusted" by what he views as a disregard by some of his peers for their employees. Venture capitalists have been advising startups in their portfolios to cut costs and freeze hiring as economists warn of an impending recession.

☆ Surfboard wants to replace spreadsheets in customer support teams. We got an exclusive look at the 13-slide deck it used to raise $5 million.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The startup has designed a collaborative planning tool for customer support teams. London-based Surfboard launched in 2021 with the aim of making work more human, and efficient, for customer support teams. Typically in support teams, there are three main actors; the agents who do the customer support work, their managers, and the end customers — who usually have to wait a long time for services. In turn, Surfboard hopes that support teams save time otherwise spent manually altering spreadsheets, and curb lost revenue and employee churn. With the cash injection, it will develop its product and focus on customer acquisitions by investing in its marketing efforts.

☆ Wefox founder explains the opportunity in digital insurance industry
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWefox founder explains the opportunity in digital insurance industryJulian Teicke of WeFox says insurance is a $5.2 trillion industry that still operates like in the pre-internet era.

☆ Amazon debuts home insurance store in the UK in latest move into finance
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON — Amazon will start selling home insurance in the U.K. through partnerships with three local insurers, further expanding the e-commerce titan's push into financial services. The company announced Wednesday it is opening a new service called Amazon Insurance Store. They're then shown a list of quotes from Amazon's insurance partners, along with reviews and star ratings from other customers. "When we set out to create the Amazon Insurance Store, we wanted to improve the experience for customers shopping for home insurance so they could easily compare options and make an informed, objective decision—just like shopping on Amazon." It's the first time the company has launched a store selling insurance.

☆ The pitch deck service-tech startup Handly used to raise a $1.5 million pre-seed round from investors like Shutterstock's Jon Oringer
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Georg Räth | Nathan Rennolds | Business Insider Deutschland | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Handly is a service-tech startup that Bastian Meyer and Klaas Krüger founded. It acts as a digital assistant for home-services companies and helps them run more efficiently. Insider has a copy of the pitch deck Handly used to raise a 1.5 million euro pre-seed round. This is an edited, translated version of an article that originally appeared on October 13, 2022Handly is a Berlin-based service-tech startup that Bastian Meyer and Klaas Krüger founded. Insider has an exclusive copy of the pitch deck Handly used to raise the funds.

☆ Wefox Founder and CEO: Insurance is the one of the most crisis resistant industries worldwide
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWefox Founder and CEO: Insurance is the one of the most crisis resistant industries worldwideJulian Teicke, Founder and CEO, Wefox discusses the impact of rising inflation on the insurance sector.

☆ It's only going to be a matter of time until we're number one, Wefox CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailIt's only going to be a matter of time until we're number one, Wefox CEO saysWefox CEO Julian Teicke speaks to CNBC's Julianna Tatelbaum at the JPMorgan Tech Stars conference.

Charlotte Pallua and Estelle Merle studied at Harvard and had successful corporate careers. "You can make more of a difference as a founder," Merle said. a small to medium-sized company, can use directly with just a few clicks. "We see ourselves as an enabler for retailers and as a supporter of medium-sized companies," Pallua explained. But we think it will actually be most helpful for small and medium-sized businesses," said Estelle Merle.

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