Wefox had another negative year

Wefox Insurance AG, the carrier subsidiary of German insurance startup Wefox, has released its financial results for last year.

The insurer ended 2023 with a net underwriting loss of $40.5 million and a combined ratio of 123%. In 2022, the underwriting loss was $29.8 million.

Last year, the company decided to no longer offer motor and household coverages in Germany and Switzerland in order to “drive profitability.”

The startup had an eventful year, which included layoffs, taking on debt, and announcing a new strategy that puts more focus on its brokerage channel. It seems that 2024 will also be filled with events – recently, Julian Teicke stepped down from his role as CEO following “several months of reflections.” According to German media outlet Manager Magazin, Mark Hartigan, the new CEO, was initially brought on by investors to keep an eye on Teicke.

In the publication’s story, which was published last week, Teicke had to guarantee his new investors a minimum interest rate of 25% per year, along with doubling their investment before other investors get anything. In 2022, when Wefox announced a $400 million Series C round, Teicke said the company didn’t need more cash.

According to the story, Wefox lost €125 million and €141 million in 2022 and 2023, respectively, and last December, the startup had only ~€20 million in cash. Wefox raised nearly $1.4 billion from investors since 2016.

Manager Magazin states in the story that Hartigan is looking to cut costs and sell different parts of the business, while Teicke is looking to cash out.