Ominimo Series B values Balkan insurtech at $1.6 billion

Ominimo’s Series B has valued the Serbian-Hungarian insurtech at $1.6 billion, after a $22.5 million round led by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s venture capital arm. The deal gives the Budapest-based company unicorn status roughly two years after its 2024 founding, a fast mark for an insurance startup from Central and Eastern Europe.

The company, founded by Dusan Komar, Dennis Weinbender, Laslo Horvath and Kristina Kozina, has so far sold policies only in Europe. Ominimo said its annualised gross written premium run rate has climbed from €26.3 million in 2024 to about €307 million, and that it now serves nearly one million customers across Hungary, Poland, the Netherlands and Sweden.

What is Ominimo?

Ominimo operates as a managing general agent, meaning it handles functions such as pricing, distribution, customer relationships and claims, while partner insurance carriers take the underwriting risk. That model can let an insurtech grow faster with less regulatory capital than a full-stack insurer, but it also means sharing economics with licensed carriers.

Ominimo says it uses hundreds of data points to price risk, compared with the five or six it says traditional insurers typically use. Its carrier partners include Signal Iduna in Hungary and Zurich Insurance Group’s German unit DA Direkt in Poland, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Why did EBRD lead Ominimo's Series B?

EBRD’s venture capital arm typically invests between €2 million and €30 million in early and growth-stage technology companies across Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. Its mandate is tied to economic development in transition markets, making Ominimo a fit beyond the usual growth-equity hunt for the next large European fintech.

The speed of the valuation is notable for EBRD. The bank’s earlier unicorn exits, PandaDoc, DocPlanner and PicsArt, took several years to reach that level, while Ominimo reached it in about two years.

Some of the new capital is expected to support Ominimo’s effort to obtain its own insurance license. If it does, the company could retain more of the profit it currently shares with carrier partners. The trade-off is capital intensity: the company would need to set aside about 20 cents of regulatory capital for every euro of premium underwritten.

What the valuation tests

European insurtech investors have had a recent reminder that premium growth without underwriting discipline can unwind quickly. WeFox, once valued at $4.5 billion and described as Europe’s best-funded insurtech, has been divesting business units and seeking emergency financing after expanding rapidly without enough underwriting discipline.

Ominimo’s pitch is different. The company has been profitable in Hungary since launch and remains profitable through this round, according to the company. It is presenting the new funding as a step toward broader licensing and geographic expansion rather than a pure land grab.

The company plans to enter Belgium and Romania this summer, followed by Spain, Italy and France. It also hopes to expand into the U.S. market in 2027. Ominimo’s team has grown from 40 to 50 last year to 130 today, with a stated target of 150 employees by year-end. The company says two-thirds of staff work in data science or software engineering, including eight mathematics olympiad medalists.

Other insurtechs are taking different routes. Alan has built a reputation in health insurance around disciplined growth, while Corgi chose a full-stack carrier model rather than relying on partner insurers. For Ominimo, the unresolved issue is how a $1.6 billion valuation holds up if the company moves from an MGA model toward bearing more of its own insurance risk.

This story draws on original reporting from TechFundingNews.