On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Charlie Wendland, chief claims officer at Branch Insurance.

The world of claims management is undergoing a seismic shift, with AI at the heart of this transformation. Insurers leveraging AI have reported a 75% reduction in claims handling time and 50% increase in fraud detection accuracy. Cutting claims processing times allows adjustors to focus on complex decisions and customer care.

Charlie talks about technology only being part of the story. The future of claims is about continuous transformation, balancing innovation with compliance, and making sure that as we innovate we don’t lose sight of empathy and trust.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The combination of investigation, problem solving and, most importantly, being there for people in their worst moments – as a claims adjustor – felt both intellectually engaging and genuinely meaningful. It really drew me to the role.

We’re small and can’t afford to build a fully fleshed out claims organisation. So, we made strategic investments to automate those administrative tasks that typically weight down our adjustors and road loos outcomes and also drive expense inefficiencies. We listened to our adjustors; we did a lot of time studies on what’s bogging them down and we proactively sought out those inefficient processes and we looked for technology to improve them.

We’ve taken an iterative approach to everything that we’ve built understanding that it’s not going to be perfect when we first launch, but we’re going to be really sensitive to what is not perfect and seek perfection even though we know that’s not possible.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Find administrative tasks that weigh down your adjustors, free them of those through technology, and they can spend more time on complex issues and customer care.’

‘We get adjustor’s opinions on everything that we do, for the most part, which sounds inefficient but it’s really not because we do it in a very thoughtful way.’

‘70% of our first notice-of-loss now either done electronically or through a voice AI.’

‘With a startup change is ever present because we’re trying to find a way to do something and we’re able to change quite quickly, but the hurdles are all self-inflicted, so if we’re not communicating effectively that’s on us.’

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Charlie Wendland has 20+ years of expertise transforming claims operations across commercial and personal lines. As Chief Claims Officer at Branch, he leads an organisation that's reimagining the insurance experience through technology and customer-centric innovation while delivering optimal claim outcomes.

Charlie’s leadership philosophy centres on driving operational efficiency that benefits both customers and the business, building collaborative teams that deliver exceptional results, and pioneering approaches that redefine industry standards.

Throughout his career, Charlie has consistently delivered growth while enhancing customer satisfaction. I'm passionate about modernizing insurance and mentoring the next generation of industry leaders.

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ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Barbara Schonhofer and Carmen Powell, two influential voices who have navigated and thrived in the ever-evolving insurance industry.

In today’s conversation we explore the sector’s evolution, the future of work and best practices for continuous networking and development.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

When I started my career in 1972, men didn’t know how to behave as women cam into their own in business and taking frontline roles. It wasn’t so much misogyny that I faced, it was more like old geezers having a laugh, they didn’t know how to welcome women into he workplace because it was less usual. I found my way by having humour and being smarter in my responses to them, so I sidestepped a lot of the banter in my early career. There were only a few predatory men, most just didn’t know how to behave in front of women.

I have always celebrated being different. Anything that was an idiosyncrasy was put down to the fact that I was Spanish, and that suited me fine! That served me well because I didn’t have to follow the norms. However, when I interviewed for a very large organisation in the UK the HR director asked my how I was going to cope with men making a pass at me. I said that I was coming here to work and that if anybody crosses the line I knew how to deal with that.

BEST MOMENTS

‘The men that were kindest to me didn’t help me and the ones that gave me a tough time did business with me. I learned to keep my friends close and my enemies closer.’

‘The most wonderful boss I had was a woman, the rest have been men but, like Barbara, they gave me a hard time and pushed my boundaries enough so I knew I was resilient enough.’

‘With everything you take two steps forward and one step back.’

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Barbara Schonhofer’s career in financial services covers four decades operating as a business leader and later as an executive search consultant to the insurance markets. When she began her career she set out to better understand the complexities of much needed culture change in insurance. During her years operating in financial services as an executive search consultant, Barbara challenged normal practices and spotted the need to bring together women leaders in the London Market to network.

Alongside ISC-Group, Barbara co-founded and co-Chair GAIN, a non-profit membership organisation encouraging better understanding and inclusion of neurodiverse individuals in the insurance industry. She is a Freeman of the City of London and a member of the Worshipful Company of Insurers, where she co-founded its female network, iWIN.

Carmen Powell is an experienced international marketing and business development professional whose strategic expertise is linked to a practical and positive approach to deliver challenging goals, including establishing new markets and reversing declining revenues whilst successfully navigating large and complex organisational matrices.

Carmen has a passion for building societal prosperity and strengthening ethical behaviour of organisations through making a difference to their bottom-line. Ethics matter. Carmen constantly strives to deliver value in ever changing corporate environments while at the same time making a positive difference in our world.

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ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Yandy Plasencia, founder and CEO of DataHaven Software.

In today’s conversation we talk about Yandy’s journey and vision as well as how mid-sized insurance companies can explore and empower their finance teams, especially their CFOs, by automating data reconciliation and unlocking real-time insights.

KEY TAKEAWAYS         

BEST MOMENTS

‘Data is a powerful tool, and it’s “make it or break it” for a lot of companies, especially in insurance where the devil is in the details.’
‘Being able to trace an expense back to the root system and getting a full transactional detail for that specific number is the most reliable way to do something.’
‘It’s only labour intensive if you try to do this completely manually and you don’t leverage artificial intelligence in the right ways, and if you don’t have a defined framework to do this, if you do, it’s much easier.’
‘It’s not rocket science… it’s just data science.’

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Yandy Plasencia is a visionary entrepreneur and software architect with deep expertise in AI, data engineering, insurance technology, and regulatory compliance.

At DataHaven, Yandy and his team are creating an insurance-specific intelligence layer that automates reconciliation, accelerates financial analysis, and helps leadership trace changes in loss or expense ratios directly to operational events.

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ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Mike Gulla, CEO of Adaptive Insurance, whose team is redefining what it means to be resilient in an era of climate uncertainty and operational volatility.

We’ll explore why now is the time for parametric and adaptive insurance, what inspired the creation of Adaptive, and how emerging technologies like AI, big data, and cloud computing are transforming the insurance landscape.

KEY TAKEAWAYS         

Mike started Adaptive in early 2024 to help businesses build financial resilience against climate change, using parametric-style products and unique data assets.

Starting a business comes with many challenges – revenue planning, product selection, and insurance. Our focus is helping owners understand how environmental factors like extreme weather or business interruptions could impact them over time.

Power outages show that even with backup systems, grid failures can cause major disruptions – from dark streets to reduced customer traffic.

As climate shifts, populations are moving into areas with new weather risks. My focus is on creating innovative insurance products that turn these challenges into opportunities for good

BEST MOMENTS

‘The consumer needs knowledge to understand what the things are that are ultimately going to impact their business.’

‘Speed is huge, which is why we use parametric products, a business owner needs to be able to make a decision very quickly after an event occurs. When you combine knowledge with speed it helps them make a better decision for their business.’

The insurance industry has suffered from how fast things have changed.’

‘Parametric insurance products are similar to streaming services in that they allow the consumer a new opportunity to have access to a different type of coverage that specifically focusses on something that might impact their business.’

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Mike Gulla, CEO and Co-Founder of Adaptive Insurance, has over 20 years of experience in the insurance industry and is passionate about transforming how insurance works by leveraging technology and innovative strategies. His career is marked by a commitment to making insurance more adaptive, efficient, and customer focused.

Mike’s leadership at Adaptive Insurance reflects his vision for a smarter, more responsive industry—one that meets the evolving needs of clients in a rapidly changing world. Known for his forward-thinking approach and dedication to excellence, Mike continues to inspire teams and drive meaningful change across the insurance landscape.

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ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Sterling Parker, Senior Vice President of Global Solutions and Services at Ivanti.

Sterling is a recognised leader in workplace technology and digital transformation, with deep expertise in helping organizations of all sizes – from global enterprises to fast-growing startups – navigate the evolving world of work.

On this episode we dive into the finding of Ivanti’s latest report which gives insights into how leaders can build workplaces that are not only more efficient, but also more human, flexible, and future-ready.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Ivanti’s latest “Technology at Work” report reveals a striking insight: while 73% of office workers and 83% of IT professionals consider flexible working “high value” or “essential,” only 23% of employees say their current job is highly flexible - highlighting a major flexibility gap that organisations must address to attract and retain top talent. The study also explores the widening flexibility gap, the rise of shadow AI, and the critical balance between optimising technology and empowering people.

Leaders need to hear the feedback from their teams. In terms of what’s preventing them – whether it’s perception or reality – from having flexibility in their day-to-day job. If you’re trying to address something without first hearing what your team demands, in terms of flexibility, then you will have a hard time marrying the demand to the business objectives. That’s a delicate balance.

If you’re not defining what success looks like for an individual, how are you going to be able to measure, as you pivot to more flexible work, whether or not that is really leading to the outcomes you need as a business to continue to invest in that flexibility.

To redefine flexibility it comes down to what are the mutual benefits involved in the definition of ‘flexibility’ to individuals. From what I’ve seen it happens from a team level, especially when you’re working to different objectives.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Lack of investment from businesses is leading to this 23% feeling like they don’t have any flexibility.’

‘There’s real cost in time spent with family, there’s real cost in the commute and people weigh those options.’

‘Since covid individuals are more willing to leave businesses for flexibility. Refusing to adapt will increase the likelihood of losing skilled employees which will cost the business. ’

‘When top talent leaves, or isn’t being attracted, then you’re going to have an innovation stagnation.’

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Sterling Parker is the Senior Vice President of Global Solutions and Services at Ivanti, where he leads the company’s worldwide support, services, and solutions strategy. With a deep background in IT operations and customer experience, Sterling is responsible for ensuring that Ivanti’s clients—ranging from large enterprises to small businesses—can securely and efficiently manage their digital workplaces in an era defined by rapid technological change and evolving workforce expectations.

Discover more about Ivanti’s most recent report here.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Sam White , CEO of Stella Insurance. Sam is not just a leader in the insurance industry; she’s a trailblazer, entrepreneur, and advocate for creating a fairer, more inclusive world.

In today’s conversation, we’ll dive into Sam’s incredible journey as an entrepreneur, her vision for Stella Insurance, and how she’s challenging the status quo in a traditionally male-dominated industry. We’ll also explore her thoughts on leadership, innovation, and the future of insurance.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

We didn’t realise, when we set Stella up, just how revolutionary it was because we had an entirely female management team all in our 20s and 30s, very spirited and high energy, going out and doing business in a very male-dominated marketplace. There are gender differences and I think we come at things with a different perspective, women do business differently, approach things differently, and have different needs and risks that they’re exposed to.

What I love about the concept of insurance is the idea that a group of people come together and put money in the pot so that if one of them is vulnerable they can be supported. That community ideology is very appealing. When you look through the lens of women, you see a set of circumstances where my general experience when it works well with a large group of women that are all aligned on the same goal and support each other is magic.

In terms of building good relationships, the principles apply. Firstly, you can’t build a good relationship with somebody who hasn’t got a good relationship with themselves and isn’t prepared to accept, acknowledge or work on that.

My first business was launched from my sister’s conservatory where I picked up the phone to brokers and asked if they’d let me handle their claims. The benefit of that is that you don’t need to get funding and you can do it your own way, you’re learning on the job and experiencing direct feedback. The downside is that the foundations you’re building on may not be ideal.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I was diagnosed with dyslexia as a kid and I think that creates a different type of mindset in terms of problem solving as well as resilience.’

‘I like complicated problems, and insurance is one hell of a complicated problem!’

‘Imposter syndrome is much higher in women than men, they second guess themselves continually. Most women are educated to not back themselves from the age of 7-8 and societally we also questions women far more than men.’

‘The irony is; the process of the ‘do’ is the thing that gives you the confidence to keep on doing the doing. But, you have to do the first thing and make it through your first really big challenge.’

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Sam White is a dynamic and visionary entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in building and scaling successful businesses. As the CEO of Stella Insurance, Sam is a trailblazer in the insurance industry, known for her innovative approach and commitment to creating meaningful change. Under her leadership, Stella Insurance has become a trusted and award-winning brand, recognized for its customer-centric ethos and dedication to empowering women in a traditionally male-dominated sector.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Amélie Breitburd, the former CEO of Lloyd’s Europe, and a leading voice in the movement to rethink how we insure against tomorrow’s biggest shocks – from climate and cyber to the long-tail risks the industry still avoids.

In today’s conversation, we’ll unpack her journey to Lloyd’s, explore the institution’s evolving role in a risk-saturated world, and dig deep into the bold ideas behind her latest work.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Every day people should focus on their specification and should be reminded of it. When I see syndicates doing business only in the US, they could do business in Europe almost for free because, from a capital perspective, diversification helps.

We’re here to help people. People wouldn’t do anything: Take a bike, drive a car, fly to Mars without insurance. It’s a key enabler. As leaders in the insurance industry I believe we can show a great sense of purpose.

There was a period during which companies were mainly looking at buying, and this was killing teams. I think now we’re definitely in the partnership era which is great for startups because they can work for different companies which increases diversity and has people learn from each other.

Insurers have a lot of data but it’s a bit outdated. Risk is evolving because the automotive industry, for example, is moving towards autonomous cars, now data about car behaviour is not as important as it used to be, now the software and batteries that will be in cars is more important so we must build another set of data. Then there are things like flying to Mars and carbon capture where there is no data because we don’t know how we’re going to be doing it.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Risk is at the heart of what insurers do and risk is about diversification.’

‘The statistical aspect is that when you are together you’re taking risks together and lowering the cost of capital.’

‘the journey today is like moving from paper to pdf, but the next change perspective is moving to more digitalised exchanges between various parts of the company.’

‘Coopetition is the idea that if we work together as competitors we can access a market which is currently inaccessible because it’s not affordable, we can price the risks differently to make them more accessible.’

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Amélie Breitburd is a strategic powerhouse in Europe’s insurance and risk management ecosystem, driving a bold agenda to double the size of the continent’s insurable market. With a sharp eye on the protection gap, Amélie brings an unflinching perspective on how to future-proof European economies—through syndication, public-private partnerships, and radical coopetition.

A thought leader who thinks beyond tradition, Amélie fuses financial acumen with game theory principles to challenge how we scale solutions to climate risk, cyber threats, and long-tail systemic exposures. Her work on the Digital Insurance Exchange Market (Euro DIEM) envisions a next-gen insurance infrastructure—anchored in data access, distributed underwriting, and multi-layer diversification.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Geetha Sham, MD and President of CamCom in Europe, and Sathes Singam, innovation scout and programme manager at ERGO Group.

In this episode we will explore how ERGO’s Venture Client model turned a promising pilot into a production with great capability, then we will investigate what it really takes to deploy AI in regulated multi-market environments, and how governance – if used right – can become a growth accelerator not a roadblock.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

During initial discussions with our first insurance customer, we realised the process of inspection was time consuming, human heavy, subject to human fatigue resulting in expensive, long cycles and inconsistency. This gap is now filled by our AI model which provides a machine vision eye, using a mobile device accurately capturing images of vehicles which leads to damage assessments, reducing false positives.

We want to democratise image capture, hence we have built our product in such a way that it can operate on any type of forum, and mobile devices made since 2016. That makes us a leader in our own area, staying focussed without scattering in the name of trying to do everything ourselves.

There has been global adoption of AI – although what it does and how it is used varies – because every industry is seeing the value add. The standard way of implementing it is simple: It has to be aligned to the businesses and should not hamper the existing business or processes that exist within the industry/group. Edge cases must be addresses in a different way and modified so they are not completely controlled by the standard feedback learning.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Startup collaboration, in my experience, should become top of management agenda.’

‘It’s crucial to have someone locally who knows the culture in their particular country, and knows the people that need to be addressed.’

‘It’s all about involving all relevant stakeholders in clear and transparent communication.’

‘Each country has local laws, so there’s not only customisation, there’s also localisation that has to addressed. That’s where the governance model comes in handy.’

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Geetha Sham is MD and President of CamCom in Europe. She is a seasoned technologist and scale-up strategist who has held senior roles at Oracle and Mindtree and is now building out CamCom’s European footprint from Dusseldorf.

Sathes Singam is an innovation scout and programme manager at ERGO Group. He is the lynchpin behind ERGO’s deployment of CamCOm across the Baltics, Europe’s first testbed of this solution.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Joel Agard, Group Head of Innovation at Zurich Insurance, who has been driving bold, transformative startup collaborations across 40+ markets.

His work has reshaped the way a global insurance giant works with startups, proving that innovation isn’t just about flashy tech – it’s about building real, meaningful partnerships that deliver results.

From navigating the early days of Zurich’s Innovation Championship back in 2018 to scaling the program during a global pandemic – and now leading the charge into the future – Joel brings passion, strategy, and a touch of risk-taking to every conversation.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The football World Cup in 2018 inspired us to piggyback on the concept of a competition to try and raise awareness of corporate/startup partnerships. Back then, working with startups in our industry wasn’t the norm, we were working with big technology companies. We asked ourselves; how can we show the art of the possible and show that working with startups can really work? This is when we invented the Zurich Innovation World Championship.

In the beginning the pace that startups wanted to – and could – go didn’t always resonate with the pace Zurich wanted to go. We had to align expectations and create a safe environment where we could test fast and where it was OK to fail.

I’ve fallen in love with cool technologies so many times, and I still do: I’m a geek. But, we had to learn that if these shiny, amazing technologies don’t really solve a problem for our customers or internal stakeholders, it’s not fit for purpose for us. It might be that it’s too early or is not a good fit for us.

BEST MOMENTS

‘We at Zurich bring our reputation, brand, and insurance expertise from 150 years. Startups bring agility and speed because they are born in a digital world.’

‘Failing in a big corporate often doesn’t have a good image. We’ve proved that failing fast and cheap is something we can achieve and is beneficial for the startups. It’s now a normal part of our process.’

‘The Covid pandemic accelerated digital transformations, there were a lot of opportunities out there to accelerate our initiatives, so increased the number of startups, pilots.’

‘It’s crucial to understand the gaps and problems you want to solve because we’d be wasting each other’s time otherwise.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Joel Agard is Group Head of Innovation at Zurich Insurance.

With a career dedicated to fostering groundbreaking solutions, Joel spearheads Zurich's Venture Client Startup Engine, a program that drives innovation across 40+ markets worldwide.

His work focuses on bridging the gap between startups and corporate needs, enabling Zurich to leverage cutting-edge technologies and solutions to stay ahead in the ever-evolving insurance landscape.

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Zurich Innovation Championship

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Gregor Gimmy, founder of 27pilots, a company dedicated to helping companies build and scale Venture Client units and allows them to benefit from startup innovations faster at large scale and significantly lower cost and risk than traditional corporate venturing methods.

On this episode we will explore how this Venture Client model is shaping corporate innovation, the strategic benefits it offers, and how companies can adopt this game-changing approach to stay ahead in a competitive world.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

When I joined BMW in 2012 I was surprised to find out the small number of startups that it was leveraging to improve its technology landscape across its value chain. I told them that CVCs were investing in 2.8 startups per year. This is not nearly the number needed to solve all the technology challenges that we have, we need more like 100. My initial idea was not to invent a new model but to improve the current one.

I was told that if they invested in 50 startups per year they would have around 250 startups in 5 years whose equity state we would have to manage, which is impossible. I concluded that VC isn’t scalable, but it didn’t solve the problem BMW had either, which was accessing, adopting, and transferring cutting edge technology fast because it’s about investment not technology transfer. These are two totally different business processes. We needed to look for a new approach: becoming a Venture Client.

Accelerators and CVCs are indirect models – like using a third party’s battery technology in the cars you produce – you first make the investment and then do the adoption of the technology. The different in the Venture Client model is cutting out the middleman.

If you want to be good at something you need a dedicated unit. If you do it part time it will only work partly. If you make it a department you can have more time you can dedicate to it, you can have a dedicated budget, you have a more solid KPI structure.

BEST MOMENTS

‘More than getting into the world of Venture Client Modelling, I invented the world.’

‘A Venture Client is a company that adopts startup technologies through procurement and M&A.’

‘A corporate cannot compete against a good startup like Palantir or Oracle when they were startups.’

‘The Venture Client model will displace Corporate Venture Capital to become the standard of corporate venturing.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

As captain of the 27pilots endeavour, and the visionary behind the Venture Client model, Gregor GImmy focuses on advancing Venture Client knowledge and growing the global community through 27pilots’ corporate clients and academic allies. Gregor is deeply engaged in researching, publishing, and lecturing on the Venture Client model through leading business schools and top business engagements. Gregor is also a frequent speaker at startup-relevant conferences such as Slush, Web Summit, 4YFN and DLD.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/