The Serbia–Hungary insurtech startup Ominimo has reached so-called unicorn status after closing a Series B financing round that included the venture arm of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The company’s valuation is about €1.4 billion, which the startup’s co‑founder and CEO Gábor Zsarnóczi presented to the press as roughly $1.6 billion given the firm’s planned focus on the U.S. market.
Ominimo, which already operates profitably, will deploy the newly raised capital primarily to obtain its own insurance licence, launch new insurance products, expand across European and overseas markets, and recruit data scientists, developers and other staff, Zsarnóczi said.
Earlier milestones and investors
Ominimo launched in Hungary in spring 2024, first offering compulsory motor third‑party liability (kgfb) and later casco policies. In its first year the company sold about 300,000 policies and captured roughly a 7 percent share of the Hungarian kgfb market; it was already profitable at that point. Domestically the firm operates as an appointed managing agent for Signal Iduna Biztosító.
In spring last year the Zurich Insurance Group became a minority investor in Ominimo, committing €10 million at an approximate €200 million valuation. Since then the startup has entered three foreign markets with that investor’s involvement: Poland, the Netherlands and Sweden.
Growth metrics: run‑rate and customer base
Ominimo measures its scale using annualized run‑rate Gross Written Premium (GWP), a common insurtech metric that annualizes the prior month’s sales to reflect rapid portfolio growth. According to Zsarnóczi, the company’s current run‑rate is around $350 million (reflecting May–June levels), with a year‑end target of $500 million.
Customer numbers have also expanded quickly: in just over two years the company has reached roughly one million active customers across its markets.
Purpose of a licence and capital implications
One of the main pillars of further growth is securing Ominimo’s own insurance licence. Obtaining such a licence carries substantial capital requirements: the company estimates a rule of thumb of keeping roughly €0.20 of capital for every €1 of premium. The EBRD’s participation in the funding round provides reputational weight with regulators overseeing insurance markets.
Owning a licence would speed up decision‑making and eliminate the need to share profit with partner insurers, although Ominimo does not intend to end existing partnerships.
Headcount, hiring and skills profile
Headcount has risen quickly: last year the team numbered 40–50 employees, today it stands at about 130, with plans to reach 150 by year‑end. Finding sufficient skilled staff has been a challenge: Ominimo ran a hackathon in Serbia that attracted more than 500 applicants. Over 100 candidates reached the finals from five countries, 30 received job offers and 25 ultimately joined the company.
Ominimo’s scaling model is knowledge‑intensive: it recruits data, development and pricing talent rather than primarily traditional insurance sales staff. About two‑thirds of employees are data scientists or software developers, and excluding founders the average age is roughly 25. The team includes eight mathematics olympiad medallists and one physics olympiad medallist.
Products and market differences
With Zurich’s backing the company expanded into Poland, the Netherlands and Sweden. In Poland—typically a slow market to move—Ominimo now signs three times as many new policies per day as in Hungary, bringing Poland to parity with the earlier largest market, the Netherlands. Dutch customers are highly price‑sensitive but frequently choose Ominimo thanks to strong satisfaction metrics. In Sweden the firm faced notable distrust as a foreign brand, yet its product coverage led to roughly 20 percent of new contracts on comparison sites.
Planned next steps include launches in Belgium and Romania in the coming summer and early autumn; the Mediterranean (Spain, Italy, France) is also targeted, and Ominimo aims at U.S. market entry in 2027. Longer‑term interest includes Latin American markets such as Brazil and Mexico.
AI in operations: fewer developers, faster launches
Artificial intelligence is embedded in day‑to‑day operations rather than treated as experimental. Ominimo distinguishes between customer‑facing AI and internal AI use. On the internal side, tools such as Claude significantly reduce development time: whereas a new country rollout previously required 5–6 developers, now three highly skilled developers working with AI can be sufficient. The company emphasises that this is not a simple headcount reduction—rather the need is for top‑tier engineers who can rapidly understand problems and collaborate effectively with AI.
On the customer side, Ominimo already operates a chatbot and is developing a voice agent using ElevenLabs’ technology. AI also drives efficiency gains in customer service: on the Hungarian market the system already understands about 60–70 percent of incoming emails and can propose suggested responses to agents for complex cases.
Outlook
Ominimo’s story so far is marked by bold moves and rapid scaling. Early investors and now the EBRD have shown strong confidence in the founders and the business model. The company’s current indicators—roughly $350 million annualized GWP, around one million customers and profitability—position it well for the next growth phase, but crucial steps remain: obtaining a licence, continuing to hire skilled staff, and adapting to local market conditions will determine whether the firm succeeds on a truly global scale.
Tags: Hungary, startup, kgfb, artificial intelligence, insurtech, fundraising, EBRD, Zurich, casco, Signal Iduna
