Meet our Investor Member Alice Repetti, Senior Ecosystem Developer at Baloise

Please tell us about Baloise

Baloise is a European company founded in 1863, currently employs 8,000 people at its headquarters in Basel (Switzerland) and across its subsidiaries in Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg.

Baloise’s core business is of insurance and bank. Through smart finance and insurance solutions, complemented by a whole host of innovative offerings for the home and personal transport, they offer a complete service package to their customers.

The Mobility Unit within Baloise has the vision to build Europe’s most connected and valuable ecosystem of mobility solution startups. The team invests in mobility solutions and services to enable a world where getting from A to B can be smarter, safer and more sustainable.

Please tell us your name and title/function

My name is Alice Repetti and I work as Senior Ecosystem Developer at Baloise. In our division we invest in mobility solutions and services with the goal of establishing a new core business for Baloise in the mobility space.

We have the ambition of building Europe’s most connected and valuable ecosystem of mobility solutions. Interested? Just read more here.

What is your background and previous experience?

Baloise’s core business is of insurance and bank. With the ‘Simply Safe’ strategy promoted in the recent years, the company has pursued a strategy of diversification and focused on generating new revenues in new business domains. Only by addressing the wider needs of a changing society, we believe we can keep Baloise on a path of sustained growth.

What is your investment focus?

We enable a world where getting from A to B can be smarter, safer and more sustainable. We specifically focus on people’s movement on land ​in Europe. We tend to prefer asset-light business models (software/services) and we consider both providers and enablers of mobility services.

Can you provide examples of successful investments you have made in the past?

Originally from Denmark, GoMore is offering leasing, P2P car sharing and ridesharing. Together with the funding team, we have highly supported their market entry to Switzerland providing them with know-how and marketing expertise and intelligence. We also facilitated connections with other key players in the industry, accelerating the deployment of new features (such as keyless car handover) or business model (leasing).

How do you typically add value to the startups you invest in, apart from capital infusion?

We follow a co-entrepreneurial approach and aim to learn from each other, hence grow with one another. Baloise offers to our portfolio companies several resources like Legal, M&A and Procurement Advisory, also Leadership Trainings, Marketing support etc.

We have of course established and trustworthy reputation and 4 mio. customers across four European countries. We provide over 160 years of business experience in the financial and insurance market, including expertise in the automotive field.

The Mobility Division in particular is staffed with different experts: Data Scientists, Venture Builders, Startup Coaches, Investment Experts, Communication Specialists.

By providing not only our time, skills and knowledge, but also our partners and investor network, we help our ventures to grow and act as sparring partners.

What is the typical investment size you consider for startups?

Our sweet spot is from seed stage up to Serie B. Usually we invest tickets in the range of 500k to 5M.

Can you describe your due diligence process? What factors do you consider before making an investment? 

We are looking for strong teams, operating in an interesting market, with a product that offers a unique value proposition, and overall solid finances.

In addition, we factor in how well we can help the startup accelerate and what synergies it adds to our ecosystem of active investments.

How long does the investment decision-making process usually take?

From first contact to final closing we can go as fast as 4 to 6 weeks. Usually we like to meet founding teams early in their startup journey and build long-term relationships. That helps the teams to get to know us and how we work and vice versa. As a result, when it comes to fundraising we can act quite fast.

What level of involvement do you typically have with the companies you invest in? Do you take board seats or have observer rights?

We are very engaged with the start-ups of our portfolio. Most of them, appreciate our eye-level contact support and our proximity to the business.

Usually, we provide strategic guidance by joining the startup board. In addition, we support on topics ranging from sales and partnerships to talent acquisition.

What is your typical timeline for exiting investments? Are you focused on short-term exits or long-term growth opportunities?

As our goal is to build a new core business for Baloise, we focus on sustaining long-term growth opportunities, rather than shorter-term financial returns. Nevertheless, the fit with our ecosystem  is the more important criterium.

How important do you consider organizations like the Swiss Startup Association for the startup ecosystem in Switzerland?

 

Our ambition is big and it is clear we cannot fulfil it by ourselves. We need to have strong partners on board that believe in our vision and contribute with their network, expertise and energy. For this reasons, I believe the Swiss Startup Association could add great value: in connecting industry players, who share the same challenges and want to find common solutions.

Moreover, having started start-ups myself, I truly believe that the full-fledge services you are offering to founders is of great value, especially for first-time founders who might lack the necessary network and access to expertise.

Who should be getting in touch with you?’

As investors, we are obviously interesting in connecting with mobility startups – but that’s not all. We would also love to expand our network of industry players. We are looking for sparring partners in the mobility space (but also beyond that) to co-invest, co-create mobility solutions, ideate business synergies and make our vision a reality. If you read until now and found it interesting, simply get in touch!