In this interview, Tiziano Lenoci explains why insurance company GVB invests in startups and why it became a founding member of Constructive Venture Fund. He also talks about a new investment the Constructive Venture Fund recently announced, the construction startup Mobbot.

Tiziano Lenoci
CEO, GVB Services

Tiziano Lenoci is CEO of GVB Services, a subsidiary of GVB responsible for group-wide marketing & sales,  and innovation. He is also responsible for startup investments of GVB and hence a member of the investment committee of Constructive Venture Fund.

GVB is a financially independent insurance company incorporated under public law by the Canton of Bern in 1807. Basic insurance against fire and natural disasters with GVB is mandatory for every homeowner in the canton. 19 out of 26 cantons in Switzerland follow the same centralized model based on solidarity between homeowners. The GVB Group employs 240 internal and 280 external people, has a turnover of CHF 250m and  200’000 clients.

In 2005, GVB launched a weather app called “Wetter-Alarm” which became quite successful with 1.3 million downloads in Switzerland. You are responsible for the product. What has a weather app to do with your insurance business?
Reducing damages starts with sensitization. People might not be aware that a hailstorm is coming. Or they simply forget to do the appropriate thing, which means to raise the blinds on their windows. The goal of the app was to create awareness and give simple tips. Now that we have seen a drought period, the message not to light fires at the edges of woods can reduce risk. All this is helpful, but we also included very enjoyable elements. With the app, you can directly access over 200 high-resolution webcams in Switzerland, often with an awesome 360° view. It’s also very nice if you want to check out a sunrise or sunset in the Alps from your mobile.

In what other ways can technology help to reduce the damage of property?
If we take the example of the blinds, smart home technology could, of course, automate the reaction to an incoming storm. In this regard, sensors in the home could help prevent or reduce the damage. That’s where insurance and prevention or respectively safety comes together. We’re actively exploring this space with our innovation teams.

Some time ago, GVB started to invest in startups. What is your motivation behind this?
We want to drive the digital transformation forward. It is often portrayed as a challenge for banks and insurances, but I think it’s a big opportunity to offer better service and more convenience to customers. That is the reason why we want to be close to the innovation created by startups and their singular focus on a given problem. In addition to being a financial investment, corporate venturing is widely accepted as a tool in the innovation toolbox.

GVB’s startup investments go through Constructive Venture Fund. Why?
Working together with Verve Ventures as the investment manager and partnering with others is much more efficient than trying to do it all on our own. Constructive Venture Fund is not just an investment vehicle, our goal is to build and strengthen innovation ecosystems related to real estate in a broad sense, which includes proptech, fintech, and other -techs. Joining forces with other partners who cover an important part of the real estate ecosystem makes sense. We’re 3 corporate partners now and are open for others to join us.

Invest in Startups

As one of Europe’s most active venture capital investors, we grant qualified private investors access to top-tier European startups. With investments starting at EUR/CHF 10’000, you can build your own tailored portfolio over time and diversify across stages and sectors.

Recently Constructive Venture Fund has invested in the construction startup Mobbot. What convinced you about this startup?
Mobbot is a construction startup that rapidly prints cable chambers out of concrete with a robot. I like how the team concentrates on their core competence which is a combination of robotics, software engineering and working with concrete. I mean, we visited their workshop and even if it is high-tech, spraying concrete means that you’re basically on a construction site. But I saw how the team loves that environment. They also concentrate on a very acute pain point their clients have. Building custom cable chambers on a construction site with traditional methods just takes too much time, up to a week. So she decided to solve this problem, and the startup came up with this method that is so much faster, flexible and finally more economic. Agnès, the founder, has an industry background, and she encountered the same problem in her previous work frequently. Scratch your own itch, the saying goes.

The construction industry isn’t an obvious domain to look for innovation.
It is not, but the potential for digitalization in the construction sector is huge. But in order to innovate, you need the right mindset, and you need to explore new ways of doing things. The way that Mobbot sprays its logo in pink on the concrete elements and establishes a brand is bold and fresh, I like that. As an addition to the patents they own, branding can be very valuable. And the fact that there is yet not much innovation in this field also means that there is less competition than in others.

What can GVB offer to startups?
There is a lot of experience and know-how in our firm with regards to buildings, but also products and services. Our size allows us to rapidly test or validate ideas. And we have close customer contact with more than 200’000 homeowners in the canton of Berne – that’s quite an attractive customer base.