Aegon Growth Capital Fund has purchased 25 percent of the shares in InsurTech service provider RISK Verzekeringen, both parties have announced.
Founded in the Netherlands in 2000, RISK is a service provider and proxy company for financial advisors, online labels and insurers. The company's philosophy is that financial advisors who use RISK can fully focus on their core task of providing direct advice to their clients. In the background, RISK takes care of mid- and back-office tasks such as the administrative processing of policies and claims.
RISK has also deployed digital solutions at various companies in which it has interests, such as comparison site overstappen.nl, consumer, business and leasing website dekredietmakelaar.nl and car-insurance comparer autoverzekering.nl.
"We arrived at Aegon Growth Capital Fund while in search of a strategic investor because the fund operates as a financial partner at a distance from the existing structure of insurance group Aegon and brings with it clear industry vision & expertise," RISK founders Harm Vollmuller and Peter Schokker said. "This allows us to independently focus on accelerating growth and on innovation".
The partnership also fits neatly with Aegon's strategy of providing customers with both choice and best-in-class digital solutions, according to Maarten Edixhoven, CEO of Aegon The Netherlands. "Aegon's basic principle in the field of distribution is that the customer is facilitated to look, compare, choose and buy," Edixhoven said. Aegon also strives to be active with multiple propositions in multiple segments. "To innovate, Aegon invests in pioneering players in the market," he added.
The RISK transaction is the latest in a series of investments in FinTech and InsurTech businesses by Aegon Growth Capital Fund. Gijs Jeuken, CEO of the fund: "Aegon Growth Capital invests in innovative and visionary companies in Europe such as RISK, which successfully focus on digitization and the provision of better distribution and service to customers."
Aegon Growth Capital Fund's previous investments in the Netherlands were Dynamic Credit and Romeo Financial Services, also known as Finzie.