Hellas Direct, a technology-driven insurance firm with business offices in Greece and Cyprus, reveals that it has acquired €32 million in capital as part of its latest funding round, bringing the total raised by the company to €56 million.
Hellas Direct also welcomed the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to its team. The EBRD is offering a mandatory convertible debt facility of €10 million to Hellas Direct, in order to support its ongoing growth and to also provide the firm with solvency capital.
The EBRD has joined other Hellas Direct investors such as Portag3, the IFC (member of the World Bank Group), Endeavor Catalyst and established family offices of Jon Moulton and Lord O’Neill.
Hellas Direct is an all-digital, full-stack insurance firm that’s empowered by the latest tech and leverages advanced analytics. With the consistent support of its investors, the company is focused on accelerating its organic growth in a post-COVID environment, across different products and distribution channels.
Hellas Direct says it intends to expand into five other European markets – which somewhat like Greece and Cyprus get overlooked by major global players – starting with Romania, in an effort to replicate the same multi-product, multi-channel approach it has already offered in Greece. The Group also intends to begin providing a credit product, which will reportedly be part of its business strategy to dominate the mobility sector in the wider region.
The EBRD is a multilateral banking institution that supports the development of the private sector and entrepreneurial projects in 38 different economies across three continents. The EBRD is owned by 69 different countries (along with the EU and the EIB).
EBRD investments are focused on improving the economies of key world regions, by making them more competitive, inclusive, well-governed, green, resilient and integrated. The bank has invested over 4.6 billion Euros in more than 75 different initiatives in the corporate, financial, energy and infrastructure segments of Greece’s developing economy.
Alexis Pantazis, Executive Director at Hellas Direct, stated:
“We are proud to welcome the EBRD into our group of investors at Hellas Direct. Our investors’ support will enable us to accelerate some of our longer-term strategic goals and to pursue a more aggressive acquisition strategy in the region.”
Emilios Markou, Executive Director at Hellas Direct, remarked:
“We are excited to be teaming up with one of the world’s leading investors. This is a great opportunity for us to further optimize the service we offer to the consumer, by expanding our activity to multiple sectors. Our aspiration is to make Hellas Direct the dominant player in the wider region’s mobility ecosystem.”
Andreea Moraru, EBRD Head of Greece and Cyprus, added:
“We are delighted to support Hellas Direct, a technology-driven insurance company offering innovative products and digitalising the insurance value chain in Greece. Accelerating digital transition, unleashing the power of technology to bring changes for the better, is among the top priorities for the EBRD. We are very proud to support the growth of an insurance market player with a unique, digital business model well-positioned in the post-Covid-19 world in scaling up its operations. We are confident that EBRD funding, know-how and strong presence on the Greek market will help Hellas Direct to continue improving its cutting edge service offerings and increase its market share.”