German Startups Group GmbH & Co. KGaA

German Startups Group significantly involved in InsurTech gonetto as lead investor

DGAP-Media / 20.07.2017 / 09:49 +++ Press release +++ for immediate release

German Startups Group as lead investor significantly involved in InsurTech gonetto, the first German online comparison portal for insurances without commissions that launches today

Berlin, 20 July 2017 - German Startups Group, the most active private venture capital investor in Germany since 2012 (CB Insights 2015, PitchBook 2016) and Berlin-based digital agency with 140 employees, is with 19% significantly involved as lead investor in startup gonetto, which offers insurances without commissions to customers starting today. The InsurTech company belongs to the stakeholdings of particular significance to German Startups Group. Apart from German Startups Group, Finanzenverlag as well as various business angels are among the investors.

gonetto is the first online provider of exclusively commission-free tariffs within the insurance industry and offers customers, for the first time, the opportunity to just pay for the actual coverage and, even with existing contracts, save the hidden commissions which account for a large portion of the insurance fee. Insurers usually also include commissions for the broker or comparison portal through which the contract is signed. Even if the broker is no longer known or the active support has been terminated, commission costs are still included in the annual fee and are paid by the client without being noticed. Starting today, customers can either take out commission-free net insurances directly through the gonetto portal and, instead of paying hidden commissions, only pay gonetto a fee of one euro per month/per contract. Or they can transfer the management of their existing insurance contracts to the gonetto portal and gonetto refunds the commission to the customer after the deduction of the gonetto fee. Since gonetto's compensation is independent of type and amount of the insurance fee, the potential conflict of interest from which the trust in the traditional insurance business suffers no longer applies. The concept itself is endorsed by science and consumer protection, "The gonetto concept is in line with the desire of every consumer advisor and will revolutionise the insurance market. More transparency is not possible", says Marc Tüngler, managing director of DSW - Deutsche Schutzvereinigung für Wertpapierbesitz e. V.