Coya

Coya AG operated as a Berlin-based insurtech company, positioning itself as a digital, paperless property and casualty insurance provider. Founded in September 2016 by Andrew Shaw, Dr. Peter Hagen, and Sebastián Villarroel, the company aimed to modernize the insurance sector by eliminating the need for traditional brokers and agents. The founders combined significant industry experience; Shaw and Villarroel came from the fintech and data science sectors, having worked at Kreditech, while Dr. Hagen was the former CEO of Vienna Insurance Group. Shaw's motivation to start the company reportedly stemmed from a personal experience with his own insurer while ill abroad.

The firm's business model was centered on a direct-to-consumer approach, allowing customers to purchase policies and manage claims entirely through its online dashboard and mobile apps. This digital-first strategy targeted a tech-savvy demographic, offering services and policy details entirely in English to cater to the expatriate community in Germany. Coya was fully licensed by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), which enabled it to underwrite its own policies and operate across the European Union via passporting rules. The company's revenue was generated directly from the sale of these insurance policies.

Coya's product portfolio included a range of personal insurance lines such as home contents, private liability, dog liability, and bicycle/e-bike theft insurance. It later expanded to offer pet health insurance for cats and dogs. A key feature was the ability for customers to personalize their coverage with add-ons. After securing a seed round of over $10 million in 2017, the company raised an additional $30 million in a Series A round in 2018, with notable backing from investors like Valar Ventures, Peter Thiel's fund. In January 2022, Coya was acquired by the French insurtech startup Luko in a 100% share deal, which absorbed Coya's 80,000 customers and its German insurance license. Following the acquisition, Coya AG was rebranded as Luko Insurance AG and later became part of GetSafe.

Keywords: insurtech, digital insurance, property and casualty insurance, home contents insurance, private liability insurance, pet insurance, bicycle insurance, BaFin licensed, online claims management, paperless insurance, Luko acquisition, Andrew Shaw, Peter Hagen, Sebastián Villarroel, German insurance, direct-to-consumer insurance, Valar Ventures, European insurtech, mobile insurance, GetSafe