Disruptive Entrepreneurship with Alexis Pantazis and Emilios Markou from Hellas Direct

In this podcast, Miguel Armaza sits down with Alexis Pantazis and Emilios Markou, Co-Founders of Hellas Direct, a digital-first, full-stack insurance company located in Greece. Modeling itself on Amazon, Hellas Direct aims to disrupt the insurance value chain by adopting an extreme focus on operational excellence and data analytics. Hellas Direct was recently listed by the Financial Times as one of Europe’s 1,000 Fastest Growing Companies.

The company is backed by a roster of leading investors, including Portag3, the IFC from the World Bank, Endeavor Catalyst, and a number of world-renowned angel investors.

Born and raised in Cyprus, Alexis and Emilios left their beloved island to study in some of the most prestigious universities around the world and eventually pursue careers in management consulting and investment banking. Their paths led them to Goldman Sachs London, where they met and eventually realized both were considering an entrepreneurial next step. At the same time, the European financial crisis of the 2010s was beginning to unravel and they started to recognize notable opportunities being created by economic turbulence.

After conducting a top-down analysis of the European market, they turned their attention to Greece as they realized the local insurance market was ripe for disruption. Fully aware they were going against the grain, Alexis and Emilios made a contrarian decision and moved to Greece to launch Hellas Direct. They assumed Greece would eventually recover from the crisis and picked car insurance because it is a mandatory product where they saw a large and inefficient local market.

Building From Scratch

From day one, Alexis and Emilios aimed to launch an insurance company that would control the entire value chain. They also realized owning and controlling their own technology would be the key to establish strong competitive advantages and decided to have full control of the design to support their strategy and growth goals. Additionally, they also started with three important principles:

• Leave all industry preconceptions and sacred cows outside. By acknowledging they didn’t know anything about car insurance, they were able to start with a blank piece of paper and reinvent the local model.
• Create something new. They looked at 70 comparable systems from around the world and realized they needed their own unique architecture to build something truly disruptive.
• Understand your local market. Being keenly aware of the peculiarities of the Greek market was key and Hellas Direct would need to build something truly local to differentiate themselves from incumbents.

With these goals and principles in mind, Alexis and Emilios launched the first InsureTech company of the region. Seven years later, Hellas Direct serves half a million customers in Greece and Cyprus and is comprised of a vibrant team of 130 people.

Fundraising and Company Culture

Mr. Markou and Mr. Pantazis understood they were making a contrarian play when they moved to Athens to launch an asset-heavy startup in the middle of a historic financial crisis. But they still didn’t fully realize how hard seed fundraising was going to be. After recognizing local Greek family offices were not interested in Hellas Direct, they devoted their energy to attract contrarian investors and reached out to 2,500 prospects, scheduled 400 meetings in 14 different countries, to finally secure 11 investors. More importantly, these weren’t just regular investors, they found people like Jim O’Neill, former Chief Economist at Goldman Sachs who coined the term BRICS, and Jon Moulton, one of the most prominent venture capitalists in the UK. Having this kind of support really strengthened their position and gave them access to the right tools from day one.

With a fresh round of funding in the bank, they began to assemble their team. Alexis and Emilios made the decision to look for smart people with the initiative to pick things up. Finding optimistic individuals with a drive to change the status quo is not always easy in Greece, which is why they created a very successful relocation program for Greek expats looking to return home (which, according to Alexis, mostly consists of showing them beautiful pictures of Santorini in the summer). Finally, they also avoided hiring people from large existing incumbents because they didn’t want to risk having team members with a legacy mentality. They are convinced companies that will dominate the 21st century will be born in the 21st century and for this, they need modern and innovative cultures.

COVID and the Road Ahead

As soon as COVID hit their markets, Alexis and Emilios conducted a rapid analysis to evaluate the impact on their plans and metrics. It quickly became evident COVID was a blessing in disguise for three different reasons:

• Positive impact on day-to-day organic business. Less driving means less crashing, which translates into fewer claims. As a result, they launched a “COVID Discount” for anyone renewing or joining them during COVID. Their numbers skyrocketed and surpassed 90% growth year-over-year.
• Digital-first flexibility. Unlike some of their competitors, the digital nature of Hellas Direct allowed them to seamlessly switch to remote work within a day.
• Competitors retreating. COVID has forced everyone to go back to basics and focus on their core markets. As a result, they are seeing less aggressive efforts from outsiders and are even considering acquiring some of the existing books from the competition.

Alexis and Emilios are proud of what they are building and are also excited for the road ahead. Going forward, not only do they envision Hellas Direct expanding across the region, but they hope to help create an entrepreneurial ecosystem around adjacent services. Emerging markets like Greece have plenty of opportunity but are starved for good talent and they encourage Hellas Direct employees and everyone else to take the entrepreneurial step.

Alexis Pantazis

Alexis Pantazis is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Hellas Direct. Prior to Hellas Direct, he was an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs where he led principal investing and new strategic initiatives for the firm in the European investment management field. A former strategy consultant with the Boston Consulting Group, he also worked for Miramax Films in New York and the Competition Directorate General of the European Commission in Brussels. Alexis is a Fulbright and British Chevening Scholar, a Robert & Diane Levy Fellow and an Endeavor Global Entrepreneur.

Emilios Markou

Emilios Markou is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Hellas Direct. Prior to Hellas Direct, he was a Director in the European Financial Institutions Structuring team at Barclays Capital. Before that, he was an Executive Director at the Goldman Sachs Investment Banking Division where he led a number of projects within the firm’s European insurance practice. A former strategy consultant with McKinsey & Company, Emilios advised a number of European, US and Asian clients on numerous strategic issues in insurance, banking, energy and transportation. Emilios is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries (FIA) in the United Kingdom and an Endeavor Global Entrepreneur.

Hellas Direct profile

Hellas Direct is a digital-first, full-stack insurance company, empowered by cutting-edge technology and the use of advanced analytics. The company is backed by a roster of leading investors, including Portag3, IFC (a member of the World Bank), Endeavor Catalyst, former Goldman Sachs economist Lord O’Neill and private equity veteran Jon Moulton. Modeling itself on Amazon, Hellas Direct aims to disrupt the insurance value chain by adopting an extreme focus on operational excellence. Hellas Direct was recently listed by the Financial Times as one of Europe’s 1,000 Fastest Growing Companies.