Insurtech Sagittae targets risk sharing on blockchain
Amsterdam-based insurtech Sagittae has unveiled the alpha version of its IT platform offering peer-to-peer financial protection based on blockchain technology.
“Risk protection schemes are far too important to be subject to crypto exchange volatility”
Sagittae (which is Latin for ‘arrow’ or ‘bolt’) points out that its goal is to share risks through the blockchain. It wants to be a decentralised alternative to traditional insurance, “completely eliminating the need for expensive and bureaucratic insurance conglomerates and costly middleman structures”.
It explains: “We believe that payments under our risk protection schemes are far too important to be subject to crypto exchange volatility. So we created a solution. Our ‘Mutual Custodian Fund’ holds major fiat currency reserves and offers maximum security to every holder of STAE-tokens.”
For example, its P2P schemes can function “completely autonomously but do often need outside services such as claims handling, loss control, insurance consultancy etc”.
In addition, insurers and reinsurers can join and “add value” by providing excess of loss or stop loss coverage to P2P schemes.
Sagittae says: “Even though peer groups basically fund their own capital needs, such an extra layer of risk protection is of great importance. Especially for larger and more complex schemes.”
The start-up was founded in January this year by Robert Volkert (CEO) and Ton Wennekendonk (COO).
Volkert is also a council member for professional learning provider GLG (Gerson Lehrman Group). He has plenty of experience in insurance – such as Lifeware and Novins.
Wennekendonk has also worked at Novins; and as a regional insurance manager for DLL (Rabobank Group).
Sagittae’s launching partners are Nessa Hearing – a Southeast Asian healthtech start-up; and Tigas Alliance, a banner group for pharmacies in Malaysia and the Asia Pacific region.
Sagittae’s roadmap is (and was) mercifully clear.
In March 2018 it launched its website and incorporated the firm. In May it had its first (undisclosed) investment round.
Looking ahead, next month it will launch its beta version of the IT platform and look to sign up its first service providers.
Next year, in January it intends the public version 1.0 of its IT platform to be live; and the Mutual Custodian Fund to be fully operational. It also wants its first P2P schemes online.
In May 2019 there will be the second investment round and launch of its first promotion campaign.
Following that, in December 2019 will be the enrolment of its 50th P2P risk protection scheme; and the release of version 2.0 of the IT platform.
In April 2020 Sagittae seeks to have investment round three and unleash a global marketing campaign.
Finally, in December 2020 it plans to have 1.5 million users on its platform and 4,000 active service providers.
A friend of mine and I wrote out nearly the same idea 20 years on a table cloth over lunch. Too bad we lacked the tech to make it work back then.