A mechanical engineer by training, with an MBA in finance from FGV and Columbia University, Marcelo Blay has an insurance market in his blood. His grandfather started working in this segment in 1927, and at the age of 56, after a long career as an executive director in the insurance market, he decided to start a business and start his own insurance company. Marcelo repeated the experiment.

After working for 20 years at companies such as Porto Seguro and Itaú Seguros, where he was executive vice president, he decided to go into the business himself, but in an online environment. In 2011, he founded Minuto Seguros, an insurance sales platform that has become one of the most successful examples of Brazilian startups.

According to him, only during the pandemic, sales of life insurance grew by more than 80%, and sales of home insurance – by more than 70%. However, auto insurance remains Minuto’s core business, which still has around 30 million potential customers in Brazil.

The company is one of the strongest candidates for the unicorn role this year. second County Startup Ecosystem Reportwhich names it among 16 other startups with the potential to exceed $ 1 billion in market value, Minuto Seguros is the online sales leader today. And he has already expressed his intention to go public in the near future, which is still driven by market conditions.

In Blay’s assessment, two decisions were fundamental to business success: maintaining human services to support the technology proposal and transparency. The site replaced insurance industry jargon with simple, straightforward counterparty language, he said. “When you have an accident, you don’t want to be listened to chat bot“, He says.

Here are some highlights of the interview with the CEO of Minuto Seguros:

1 – Entrepreneurial vein in the family

“I have been working in the insurance market for 32 years, and my grandfather’s story proves that the transition from a traditional market to entrepreneurship is possible. He took this step at 56 by starting his own insurance company. When I was 44, in 2011, I made the same decision when I noticed a certain movement in Itau, where I was vice president of insurance. The insurance company was going to turn from a manufacturer of insurance products into a distribution channel. I understood that I needed to find my place. 10 years ago, nobody worked with digital insurance, so this was a unique opportunity to start something unique. ”

2 – Pioneer in digital contracts

“When we first appeared, everything was very new and, like any new development, it seemed a little threatening. But all my personal, family and professional experience with the environment gave me the opportunity to explain my idea to insurance companies. It took many months to waste shoe soles and saliva to explain that this model came to add business. Bradesco, Mitsui Sumitomo and Zurich were the insurance companies that first decided to bet on our business. They also decided to test themselves, and we learned together in the process. We started system integration and fulfilled a number of technical and legal requirements to gain access to your technology environment. Today on our portal we work with more than 30 insurance companies ”.

3 – Uber insurance companies

“When we arrived, other brokers saw us as competitors. Today, there are 100,000 insurance brokerage companies operating in Brazil. They were very afraid of an operation like ours, they imagined that we would be like Uber for a taxi. Over time, they saw that we attracted another client who had never taken out insurance before. The insurance market is underdeveloped, we still have a very significant growth potential. Imagine that out of 48 million passenger cars, only a third is insured. We have over 30 million potential clients. When it comes to home or life insurance, less than 10% of people have this type of insurance. In small and medium-sized companies, only 10% have some type of insurance. More than 70% of our clients have never had insurance before, so in the end we expanded this market. “

4 – Personalization technology

“Brazilians are generally unfamiliar with the insurance industry and usually react to it. I joke that no one wakes up wanting to take out insurance. We understand that offering people the best product for what they need is ideal. If we gave our clients complete flexibility in customizing their insurance, they would end up choosing the lowest price and, without knowing the industry jargon, could make the wrong choice and run out of coverage when they needed it. With the help of artificial intelligence, big data and algorithms, we can offer the most suitable pre-formatted plans according to the type of vehicle and socio-demographic profile of the client. When I present to your profile 5 or 6 more suitable options and allow you to compare sentences in simple language, without jargon, I allow you to compare orange to orange when you make your choice. I’m translating Sure into Portuguese “.

5 – Social service as a differential

“Minuto’s great idea that allowed us to become the market leader was to understand that the customer needs human service. I’d say 95% of people contact before taking out insurance. Should we ask for more specific customization in addition to the ones we present, or even bargain for the price. This is when applying for a job, but imagine in case of an accident. You don’t want to talk to a chatbot if you have had a death or illness in your family. We do not hide our 0800 numbers on the website, all our phone numbers and communication channels are very clear to the customer. ”

6 – Life and home insurance during a pandemic

“Auto insurance is in spontaneous demand because people are usually more aware of the risk they are exposed to. He represents 80% to 85% of our employees. When we talk about health insurance or life insurance, both for individuals and companies, this demand is lower. During the pandemic, we had an increase in claims for life insurance by more than 80%, and for home insurance – from 70% to 80%. Like home Officecaring for the home, especially with the assistance and support services that home insurance provides, has been overrated. ”

7 – Auto insurance pay-as-you-go

“Some Insurtechs come visit us with this pay-as-you-go auto insurance product. We realized that there was still no consumer demand for this offer. This type of insurance is interesting for those who travel by car up to 300 km per month, which is 10 km per day. On top of that, it is more profitable to take out traditional insurance because of the extensive protection it offers at a similar price. Another limitation is that this insurance also depends on the city’s Internet connectivity infrastructure. You must have high availability. If your car is stolen in uninsured territory, you may have problems getting it back. The insurance industry is highly prone to fraud. 5G networks can accelerate this process, but even in these cases, we have little case law. This is a market that has just begun. ”

8 – Changing consumption habits

“There is still a somewhat romantic view of the sharing economy. For example, during the pandemic, the issue of transport applications changed completely. Own car at this time became a safe means of transportation. There is still a consumer dream of having the less privileged classes have their own car. For women, because of harassment on public transport, a car can mean their safety and freedom. People who get married, have small children or elderly parents still prefer to have their own car. ”

9 – Trends in the insurance market

“Technology is increasingly present and the pandemic has accelerated digital processes. Insurers have begun to develop technology tools so that customers can inspect a vehicle using apps without having to personally take the vehicle. In health insurance, we are entering the era of technology such as wearablethat measure the user’s vitality, oxygenation and circulation problems and help prevent illness. This insurance is also expanding its telemedicine coverage to provide home care. ”

10 – Decisions that made the company successful

“Ten years ago, when we started, there were 14 more companies selling insurance over the Internet. Of these, only Minuto exists today, as others believed in a 100% digital model and we placed our stake on maintaining human services. At the time, we were heavily criticized. They said that we are following the principles of the old economy. But I already had 20 years of experience in this market, I was perhaps the oldest entrepreneur of that generation. In the end, we proved that the model is correct. Customer and employee focus is also important. We have to think about these two audiences first, then the shareholder and, as a result, the profit. Finally, we are very transparent. This is the industry that calls the premium insurance price, the bonus discount, that’s an empty phrase. We have to close the best deal for the consumer, not the one that best suits the broker. I believe that the biggest disruption to our business has been the transparency of information, not just technology. ”

Text: Monica Millo Pedrosa

Images: reproduction