Tillit insurtech startup
With burning desire to create an insurance solution that is built around customers, Erik Skaar left his insurance job in March 2017 to pursue his entrepreneurship journey. Together with former colleague Elias Ottosen and mathematician Anders Schnell he founded Tillit — an insurtech startup and later joined TheFactory Spring’17 program. Since 2017, the team has further grown and recently received funding from Schibsted Media Group og Innovation Norway.
Hi Erik, please tell us a little bit about yourself, your startup and what you are currently working on?
I have a background in economics and worked for the insurance industry for some years. I found that customers are often frustrated by ineffectivity, rising prices and overly complex products not necessary covering the costumers needs. And not only where the frustration among the costumers, but internally employs where constantly in a push and pull battle with different administrative levels inside the organisation, resulting in vast amounts of time wasted every single day.
Therefore, we started sketching up different solutions and after some months we realised that we had to dig deeper then we originally thought to find the major components causing the problems in the industry.
Tillit is an insurance provider, which offers easy-to-use insurance with dynamic premiums and highly rewarding gamifiction elements. And its all based on what we call a Limited Profit Model, actually limiting our own greed, which can be a good thing when your job is to hold on to others peoples money.
We are currently getting ready to launch a small-scale pilot this late summer.
· When and why did you decide to join TheFactory?
Because we wanted to test out our concept to see if it was feasible. TheFactory had the first InsurTech program in the Nordics at that time and with a huge network of industry professionals we thought it would be a really good place to start. We had first interview with Ingar and Hans Christian and some following-up interviews with some mentors. They liked the concept and we received good feedback, so we joined the program.
· What did you find most valuable joining our program?
The most valuable thing is that we got the ability to pitch our concept and vision to high-level investors, soft-funding origination, industry professionals and potential strategic partners. Getting those opportunities can be extremely difficult if you are out there by yourself with no one to vouch for you.
· Were there any highlights during the program?
Pitch and selection night was crazy. Cutting 50 % of the participants is brutal. Ten good companies becoming five great, and being a part of those five was a huge confidence booster. It gave us a big push in the right direction.
· How has been the journey after the program?
After the program we started talking to DNB about a potential partnership. They wanted us to be part of DNB NXT accelerator and we joined this Spring 2018. It is interesting having been a part of Norway’s two best accelerators. I would definitely recommend TheFactory for early stage startups due to the more hands on approach and focus on the fundamentals.
· How do you see the Fintech ecosystem in Oslo evolving?
The ecosystem is growing. Now a day it gets way more respect from the financial industry them just 12–18 months ago.
· What are your advice for fintech startups?
Join an accelerator program. It’s a great way to check if what you are dedicating your life to is worth doing.