Switzerland-based insurer CSS Insurance has set up a corporate venturing unit called SwissHealth Ventures and equipped the operation with CHF50m ($54m).
The money was allocated from a surplus from CSS’s supplementary insurance business. SwissHealth Ventures has been set up as a separate subsidiary of CSS Holding, and the corporate partnered Redstone to leverage the latter’s venture capital-as-a-service offering.
Founded in 1899, CSS has issued health, accident and property insurance policies to nearly 1.8 million current customers and manages an insurance premium volume of more than $7bn.
SwissHealth Ventures will focus on healthcare startups in the prevention, treatment, recovery and special care spaces. It is particularly interested in telemedicine, early-stage diagnostics and digital health services for chronic illnesses.
The fund has already made its first commitment, backing Pregnolia, a Switzerland-based spinout of ETH Zurich that has created a system to determine the risk of premature birth.
Philomena Colatrella, chief executive of CSS Insurance, said: “We are taking on a pioneering role in the Swiss market with our own venture fund. Our aim is to create added value for our customers and to anticipate and meet their needs even better.” [translated from German by Global Corporate Venturing]
