HDI Group gives capital to cybersecurity start-ups

In this way, the group wants to make complementary offers to its cybersecurity insurance. A prominent investor is also helping in the search for the right start-ups.

Insurance group HDI is setting a new focus with its investment arm Hannover Digital Investments. According to CEO Ulrich Wallin - a former head of Hannover Re - the main aim is to provide HDI customers with better protection against cyber attacks in addition to insurance. "Customers who are interested in cyber insurance also want services to either prevent attacks or get back to work quickly in the event of a loss," Wallin tells the Handelsblatt. Wallin and his team are also receiving support from experienced start-up investor Carsten Maschmeyer, whose group of companies will make a preliminary selection and participate as a co-investor.

Through Hannover Digital Investments, the HDI Group has been investing in start-ups since 2017. The goal at Hannover Digital Invest is a portfolio of 20 to 25 investments, "about five should be added per year," Wallin tells Handelsblatt. Start-ups in the early corporate phase are of particular interest; in the first financing rounds, Hannover Digital Invest gives an average of 1.8 million euros.