Helvetia Venture Fund acquires stake in Swiss fintech company neon

The Helvetia Venture Fund is investing in the Swiss fintech company neon, which offers low-cost, app-based banking. Helvetia sees great potential in neon's business model. The two companies already enjoy a successful cooperation: This summer, Smile, the leading Swiss digital insurance solution from Helvetia, and neon began offering the first mobile bancassurance solution in Switzerland.

26.08.2020 | Media releases

The Helvetia Venture Fund holds a stake in neon. The fintech company provides the leading app-based Swiss banking solution, in which users can open a bank account and get a free Mastercard. neon is extremely convenient and offers low fees, particularly for international transactions, and attractive exchange rates. Unlike foreign challenger banks, neon issues accounts with a Swiss IBAN, which are also covered by the Swiss deposit protection scheme thanks to a cooperation with Hypothekarbank Lenzburg. Just one year after its launch, more than 30,000 customers are using the straightforward banking app.

This round of investments includes the new investors QoQa SA, Helvetia Venture Fund and other private investors, as well as existing investors TX Group, Backbone Ventures, the Innovation Foundation of the Schwyz Cantonal Bank and Business Angels.

First fintech investment by the Helvetia Venture Fund
Smile, the Swiss digital insurance solution from Helvetia, and neon presented Switzerland's first mobile bancassurance solution in early summer. They are currently looking at expanding their cooperation further. This potential for closer cooperation prompted the Helvetia Venture Fund to invest in the fintech market for the first time. "neon has an excellent product with impressive growth figures. The cooperation with neon gives Helvetia the opportunity to access new customers. We are also confident that neon will further develop the traditional Swiss banking market in the long term", explains Martin Tschopp, Chief Customer Officer at Helvetia Switzerland. Jörg Sandrock, CEO and co-founder of neon, adds: "We are delighted that Helvetia has placed its trust in neon. Insurance is set to become an important additional service as we expand our business model."

Contact information

Analysts
Susanne Tengler
Head of Investor Relations

Phone: +41 58 280 57 79
investor.relations@helvetia.ch

Media
Jonas Grossniklaus
Senior Manager Corporate Communications & PR

Phone: +41 58 280 50 33
media.relations@helvetia.ch

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About Helvetia Venture Fund

The Helvetia Venture Fund invests in start-ups from the insurtech segment and in young companies whose business models provide a link to or support Helvetia's insurance business. The fund

is a subsidiary of Helvetia Swiss Insurance Company Ltd and is domiciled in Luxembourg. It focusses on start-ups from throughout Europe and places an emphasis on those countries in which

Helvetia operates, namely Switzerland as well as Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Spain.

The total volume stands at CHF 55 million.

www.helvetia.vc

About the Helvetia Group

In over 160 years, the Helvetia Group has grown from a number of Swiss and foreign insurance companies into a successful international insurance group. Helvetia is one of the leading all-line insurers in its home market of Switzerland. With the countries Germany, Italy, Austria and Spain, which have been combined to form the Market Area Europe, the company has a second strong pillar. With its Specialty Markets market area, Helvetia is also present in France and in selected regions worldwide. Some of its investment and financing activities are managed through subsidiaries and fund companies in Luxembourg. The Group is headquartered in St.Gallen, Switzerland.

Helvetia is active in the life and non-life business, and also offers customised specialty lines and reinsurance cover. Its business activities focus on retail customers as well as small and medium-sized companies and larger corporates. With some 11,500 employees, the company provides services to more than 7 million customers. With a business volume of CHF 9.45 billion, Helvetia generated an IFRS result after tax of CHF 538.1 million in financial year 2019. The registered shares of Helvetia Holding are traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange under the symbol HELN.

Cautionary note

This document was prepared by Helvetia Group and may not be copied, altered, offered, sold or otherwise distributed to any other person by any recipient without the consent of Helvetia Group. The German version of this document is decisive and binding. Versions of the document in other languages are made available purely for information purposes. Although all reasonable effort has been made to ensure that the facts stated herein are correct and the opinions contained herein are fair and reasonable, where any information and statistics are quoted from any external source such information or statistics should not be interpreted as having been adopted or endorsed as accurate by Helvetia Group. Neither Helvetia Group nor any of its directors, officers, employees and advisors nor any other person shall have any liability whatsoever for loss howsoever arising, directly or indirectly, from any use of this information. The facts and information contained in this document are as up to date as is reasonably possible but may be subject to revision in the future. Neither Helvetia Group nor any of its directors, officers, employees or advisors nor any other person makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this document.

This document may contain projections or other forward-looking statements related to Helvetia Group which by their very nature involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and there is a risk that predictions, forecasts, projections and other outcomes described or implied in forward-looking statements will not be achieved. We caution you that a number of important factors could cause results to differ materially from the plans, objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. These factors include: (1) changes in general economic conditions, in particular in the markets in which we operate; (2) the performance of financial markets; (3) changes in interest rates; (4) changes in currency exchange rates; (5) changes in laws and regulations, including accounting policies or practices; (6) risks associated with implementing our business strategies; (7) the frequency, magnitude and general development of insured events; (8) mortality and morbidity rates; (9) policy renewal and lapse rates as well as (10), the realisation of economies of scale as well as synergies. We caution you that the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive; when evaluating forward-looking statements, you should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to Helvetia Group on the date of its publication and Helvetia Group assumes no obligation to update such statements unless otherwise required by applicable law.