Allianz X and Debeka take an undisclosed stake in SDA SE Open Industry
Allianz X and Debeka invest in SDA SE Open Industry. Photo: courtesy of rawpixel from Pixabay.
Allianz X and Debeka have made an undisclosed equity investment in Germany-based digital company SDA SE Open Industry, which helps insurance firms in setting up their own service platforms.
Alongside existing investors SIGNAL IDUNA and the msg group, Allianz X and Debeka will support the development of a new standard for establishing and providing digital services in the insurance industry.
Allianz X is the digital investment unit of German insurance firm Allianz Group, while Debeka is an insurance and financial services provider based in Koblenz, Germany.
How SDA SE helps insurance companies
According to Allianz X, SDA SE enables firms to integrate existing IT systems and processes easily, helps in getting external partners and service providers on board, while continuing to have full ownership of their data and analytics. This, the company is said to achieve by incorporating service-dominant architecture into its open-source platform.
Allianz X investment director Carsten Middendorf said: “We see our involvement with SDA SE as a strategic investment, and will support the company to completely serve the needs of the market.
“The potential of service-dominant architecture in the insurance industry is enormous and will take demand-driven customer communication to a new level in times of digital transformation.”
By making use of SDA SE’s platform, insurance providers, irrespective of their sizes, can introduce their services quickly and in real-time, operationalise their digital strategy, and bolster customer touchpoints.
SDA SE managing director Stephan Hans said: “So far, insurance companies have primarily relied on in-house approaches and their own architectures for digital transformation.
“These isolated solutions entail various disadvantages. They cover a great depth of the value chain, are expensive, and often do not take into account the know-how available on the market as a whole.”
Earlier this year, Allianz increased the investment budget of Allianz X to €1bn, thereby making it one of the largest corporate venture funds in Europe. Allianz X was formed by the German insurer to invest in digital growth firms across the world, that are part of its ecosystems related to insurance and other areas.