A Greece Cyprus digital insurance company is pioneering a new platform to bring faster, cheaper, and more accessible insurance services to the region
Emilios Markou (right) and Alexis Pantazis (left) are the faces behind Hellas Direct
Emilios Markou and Alexis Pantazis always wanted to set up their own business. In 2012, the two Cypriot entrepreneurs left successful careers behind in London to found a company in Greece in the middle of a harsh economic depression. “People thought we were crazy,” says Markou. “But we saw that there was an opportunity to offer an innovative product and disrupt the stagnant Greek insurance sector.”
Hellas Direct is a digital insurance company in Greece and Cyprus. By using state-of-the-art algorithms and technology, it offers a more efficient insurance model and better quality of products at better prices. “We saw that the whole insurance sector was outdated, overloaded with middlemen, unnecessary fees, and bureaucratic processes that create obstacles for customers,” says Pantazis. “Our technology will change the way we do insurance in Greece, Cyprus, and the region for the better.”
A €15 million loan to Hellas Direct from the European Investment Bank is helping the company expand its technology-led insurance services and adapt the region’s financial services to a post-COVID-19 world. It’s part of a wider push by the EU bank to support innovation and high-tech business growth in Southeastern Europe.
Technology that offers faster insurance
From day one, Markou and Pantazis knew they had to develop their technology. “Most traditional insurance companies were built before the smartphone and the Internet,” says Markou. “We had to rethink all insurance processes and digitise them to serve the modern customer’s needs.”
“The insurance industry typically neglects the consumer. So, we came with more clarity and without small-print and hidden terms,” says Alexis Pantazis. “This is something that the Greek consumer has appreciated.”
“We looked at 70 systems from around the world,” he adds. “But soon we understood that we had to design something disruptive and flexible to fit the peculiarities of the Greek market.”
This is how Hellas Direct became the first Greek company with a fully automated, digital insurance process and proprietary platform to manage claims, underwriting, pricing and online distribution. “Our algorithm looks at the mobility ecosystem as a whole,” says Pantazis. “For example, in case of a mechanical fault, it leads our clients to one of the 12 000 garages on our proprietary platforms and even offers them financing for anything that is not covered by their insurance.”
The technology also enables Hellas Direct to provide unique insurance products in a short time and at lower prices. With Hellas Direct, the owner of a registered vehicle in Greece can buy insurance online in less than four minutes.
How Big Data, algorithms and AI, will benefit the insurance sector?
- Improved customer experience
- Optimised internal processes such as claims management
- Better collection and analysis of data
- Scalability
- Tailored solutions for the customer
- Better flow and synchronisation of data
- More accurate risk assessment for the customer
- Faster and cheaper services
Next-generation insurance in Greece and Cyprus
Reshaping insurance in Southeastern Europe is challenging. “Since our launch, we have faced a series of problems, from bureaucratic barriers to Greece’s difficult economic environment,” says Pantazis. “Among those, funding has always been the biggest one.”
The European Investment Bank’s €15 million loan, signed in July 2021, is its largest ever for financial services in Cyprus and the first time the Bank has offered venture debt financing to a Cypriot company. The loan is part of the European Growth Finance Facility, a product under the guarantee of the European Fund for Strategic Investment.
The Facility “is an instrument that allows us to engage with more risky transactions,” says Andreas Aristotle Papadimitriou, a venture debt investment officer at the European Investment Bank. “It enables us to finance smaller, innovative companies and offer them additional long-term liquidity—something that would have been impossible 10 years ago.”
With the EIB’s backing, Hellas Direct can dream bigger. “We want to grow and become a regional benchmark,” says Pantazis. “The bank’s support means a lot to us, as we prepare to replicate our business model across borders.”
Financial Times recognised Hellas Direct as 1,000 fastest-growing companies in Europe and the company won the EY Entrepreneurs award in 2022 in Cyprus
Pioneering digital and economic innovation in Greece and Cyprus
Hellas Direct is bringing insurance into a new digital era in Greece and Cyprus. The company estimates that even before the COVID-19 crisis, consumers could buy only 10% of insurance policies online in Greece. But COVID-19 increases the impetus for the insurance market to digitalise.
“Similar innovation exists in other markets across the world, but such technology did not exist in Greece, Cyprus, and neighbouring countries,” says Pantazis. “Now, with our team of over 50 data scientists and engineers, we are trying to revolutionise the way we do insurance.”
Hellas Direct’s innovation has regional and economic dimensions, too. By offering higher quality, faster insurance, and more accessible products, the company is improving mobility in Greece and Cyprus. “Greece has the oldest fleet in Europe. That means that cars break down often and people cannot go to work, drive their children to school,” says Markou. “We provide a concrete solution to problems that obstruct efficient, safe, and accessible mobility.”
