Diesta, the London-based insurtech startup, has closed a $2 million seed funding round. The round included participation from Restive, SixThirty, Antler, SystemaNova, and Westerly Ventures. The funding will be used for further product development and expansion within the sector.
A Solution to Save Billions
Although the fintech sector has seen a downturn — funding in the first half of 2023 nearly halved — the insurtech sector has shown resilience. In part, this is because of the potential within the sector, Dealroom recently reported insurtech to be a $7 trillion opportunity, especially for solutions that improve operational efficiency.
Diesta is focused on improving that efficiency. It’s estimated that the reconciliation and allocation of premium payments within the distraction chain costs the industry $32 billion a year. Diesta aims to reduce these costs for insurance and broking companies by 75%.
Diesta’s founding team have direct experience of the problem. Julian Schoemig, a German engineer, previously worked for Munich Re in Germany, the UK, and the US. “With Diesta, we are addressing a problem which I experienced firsthand and thousands of insurance entities continue to face on a daily basis,” he said. “This is an example of a legacy industry practice that is costing insurance companies millions every year. Our platform provides a solution which directly addresses this challenge.”
His co-founder, South African Christopher Davis, is an IT security expect, who previously worked at Discovery Bank. They met at an Antler residential. Ollie Purdue, Partner at Antler, said, “the success of British fintech startups has become the stuff of legend in tech ecosystems around the world, and I have every confidence that insurtech will be the next chapter of that growth story. Diesta is at the forefront of a new generation of insurtech talent emerging in London, and they have the potential to become one of the most important players in this space.”
Other investors shared that confidence, Ryan Falvey, Partner at Restive, said, “we know how challenging payment reconciliation is in the global insurance industry and were extremely impressed by the expertise, dedication and technological sophistication of the team.”
A Disruptive Force in the Insurance Market
Insurance is one of the world’s oldest marketplaces, and in many places the technology in use lags behind other sectors. Diesta aims to revolutionise the industry by streamlining the premium processes worldwide.
The funds will be used for product development and expanding Diesta’s scalability. Diesta plans to capture a significant part of the UK premiums market by onboarding brokers, MGAs, insurers and even reinsurers with their cost-effective processes.
