Innovation intelligence brief
Innovation intelligence brief
Added by the 2026 Swiss InsurTech research from public sources, not by the original academic study (Stoeckli, Dremel & Uebernickel). These innovations predate the 2021–2026 window; its 2016 and 2017 classifications apply the original taxonomy definitions but were not validated by that study. All innovations in this cohort · Methodology ↗
Digital insurance for Swiss service SMEs, start-ups and self-employed entrepreneurs: a short online risk analysis assembled a modular cover (professional liability, cyber, D&O), bought fully digitally with the policy sent by e-mail, directly or through partner brokers.
Research profile · Swiss Innovation · to 2021
Classification notes · Launch measured from the March 2021 go-live; classified per taxonomy rule 5 (discontinued; STATE dimensions describe the last known state, the 2023 B2B/MGA-as-a-service model). 'Changed product nature such as virtual businesses' (researcher's leaf) replaced by 'Individualized products': the 2021 site sells modular, risk-analysis-based bundles for conventional service SMEs, not cover for virtual businesses. Market positioning 'mga' rests on Helvengo's own 2023 statement about its 'MGA as a service' and the register purpose (underwriting, product development, claims management, management agency); the risk carrier(s) behind the 2021 product were not found. Strategic evolution 'wound-down': the Swiss parent was dissolved and deleted; ease GmbH bought the German subsidiary Helvengo GmbH and its IoT building insurance business, which is not the Swiss SME product, so no successor of the innovation is evidenced. Business-model shifts recorded before closure: toward-embedded (2023 MGA-as-a-service for carriers and sales partners) and geographic-expansion (German subsidiary, IoT building insurance with ease from 2022).
What became of it
Completed · High confidence · Last verified 2026-10-18
At launch
A Swiss digital SME insurance platform (live by March 2021): a short online risk analysis produced a modular cover for professional liability, cyber and D&O, bought fully digitally with the policy sent by e-mail, sold directly and through partner brokers.
2026 reality
Discontinued. Helvengo AG's shareholders dissolved the company on 10 July 2024 (SHAB, 2 August 2024); the liquidation ended and the company was deleted from the register on 24 December 2025. The German subsidiary Helvengo GmbH was sold to the German specialist broker ease GmbH in 2024. helvengo.ch now redirects to an unrelated website.
After the March 2021 launch, Helvengo raised a seed round of over CHF 4.2 million led by TX Group (January 2022) and added legal protection insurance developed with Coop Rechtsschutz AG. From 2022 it worked with ease on an IoT-based building insurance for multi-family homes in Germany. In 2023 it moved to a B2B model, offering a full-service insurance platform and 'MGA as a service' to carriers and sales partners. In July 2024 it sold its German subsidiary to ease and dissolved the Swiss parent.
direct and broker-led online SME distribution did not scale fast enough in a broker-dominated Swiss SME market, which pushed the company toward B2B services and finally a sale of its German business.
one of the first Swiss digital SME insurance MGAs; a historical example of how hard direct digital SME distribution proved in Switzerland.
Third taxonomy
REVIEW · Reworked for the 'to 2021' window: launch 2021 (founding/press-based) -> 2021-03 from Internet Archive snapshots (coming soon on 27 Jan 2021, live on 3 Mar 2021); added Zefix register evidence (registration Oct 2020, dissolution 10 Jul 2024, deletion 24 Dec 2025). Dropped the EU-Startups (HTTP 403, unverifiable) and Dealroom (database) sources; added Fintechnews, Netzwoche 2024 and Coverager 'ease acquires Helvengo'. Removed unsourced partner-platform examples (business loans, bank accounts, laptop purchases). PYMNTS (28 Jan 2022) is paywalled and not cited. Value Chain leaf 'Changed product nature' -> 'Individualized products'; Value Network 'Adjusted behavior and needs (virtual business)' -> 'Individualized product'. Business-model shifts toward-embedded and geographic-expansion added (measured from launch). Status RESEARCHING -> COMPLETED.
Research interpretation
Classified by the Swiss Innovation · to 2021 research, applying the original models' definitions. Not a classification by the original study.