Introduction
If you’re an InsurTech founder selling to European insurers or large broker groups, here’s an uncomfortable truth:
Your product can be genuinely innovative, technically superior, and well liked – and still fail to scale.
Not because insurers don’t believe in technology. But because they now buy differently.
Across Europe, buyers of InsurTech are under intense pressure to justify every investment in measurable business terms. Innovation alone no longer carries deals. What matters is whether a solution can clearly move the metrics that insurers and brokers are accountable for.
“What has changed most is not insurers’ appetite for technology, but their expectations. Today, if you can’t explain how a solution will improve a core business metric, it rarely gets past the first serious review.” Ángel Blesa, CEO of Codeoscopic.
From innovation stories to measurable outcomes
European insurers continue to invest heavily in digital transformation. But the governing question has changed.
It is no longer “Is this innovative?”
It is “What measurable impact will this have — and when?”
Whether you are selling to a Tier-1 carrier like Allianz or AXA, or to a small broker group, buying decisions are now anchored in operational and financial outcomes. Innovation teams may sponsor projects, but finance and operations increasingly determine whether those projects scale beyond a pilot.
For InsurTech founders, this has a clear implication: selling on vision or features alone is no longer enough. Winning requires translating your product into outcomes your buyers are measured on.
The metrics that now drive buying decisions
There is a consistent scorecard of metrics senior buyers care about and the ones your solution must credibly influence.
| Category | Key Metrics |
| Operational speed | Quote-to-bind First notice of loss to settlement Time to pay |
| Quality and accuracy | Rework rates Data quality defects Claims leakage captured |
| Commercial performance | Conversion Retention Cross-sell and up-sell |
| Financial outcomes | Cost per claim Cost per policy Expense ratio Loss ratio |
These are not abstract KPIs, rather the levers that determine profitability, competitiveness, and capital efficiency. When buyers push you on ROI, this is what they are trying to connect your product to.
Why this creates friction for many InsurTechs
Most InsurTechs offer software designed to solve real problems, but not necessarily to sell those solutions in financial terms.
Founders are often strongest at explaining product capabilities, demonstrating technical differentiation, and articulating long-term vision. Deals can start to stall when buyers ask harder questions:
- Which metric will this move first?
- How big could that impact realistically be?
- How will success be measured during a pilot?
- When should this show up in the P&L?
This is not because the value isn’t there. It’s because ROI in insurance is genuinely difficult to quantify.
Ángel Blesa captures this tension clearly:
“From the insurer side, ROI is rarely black and white. Data is fragmented, processes vary by line of business, and benefits emerge over time. But that doesn’t mean ROI isn’t required — it means it has to be discussed honestly and pragmatically.”
Benefits often arrive in phases. Some improvements, such as cycle time or productivity, are demonstrated quickly. Others, like retention or loss ratio, take longer. Without agreement upfront, pilot projects risk being ‘successful’ without ever becoming scalable.
Understanding this complexity and helping buyers navigate it is now part of the selling motion.
What ROI-based selling actually looks like in practice
ROI-based selling does not mean producing perfect business cases or over-promising results. In practice, it means a small number of disciplined shifts.
- Move from features to outcomes
Frame capabilities in terms of the operational or financial metrics they affect, even if the impact is directional rather than exact. - Define success before pilots begin
Agree upfront on which metrics matter, what baseline will be used, and what level of improvement would justify scale-up. - Quantify value with credible assumptions
Benchmarks, conservative ranges, and proxy metrics are usually enough. Buyers want seriousness and realism, not false precision. - Engage the economic buyer early
Innovation teams may champion your solution, but Finance ultimately decides whether it survives.
Founders who adopt this approach find that conversations shift. Sales become less about persuasion and more about joint problem-solving around real business outcomes.
Why buyers are more demanding than before
Two broader forces reinforce this shift.
- Sustained margin pressure is forcing insurers and brokers to be far more disciplined about where they invest.
- Regulation is raising the bar. Frameworks such as DORA and the EU AI Act increase expectations around governance, data quality, and operational resilience. Buyers need confidence that new technology will scale safely, compliantly, and with clear returns.
For InsurTech founders, tougher questions are not a sign of resistance, rather they are a sign of accountability.
What we see working with successful InsurTechs
At Upliift, we work closely with European software founders selling into insurance. The companies that scale share a common characteristic: their value shows up in the metrics insurers already manage by.
They build products that integrate into daily workflows, reduce manual effort, improve decision quality, and strengthen compliant distribution. As a result, their impact is visible in cycle time, accuracy, leakage, conversion, and cost, not just in demos.
Ángel Blesa puts it simply:
“Insurers commit long-term to vendors who help them run better every day. When software clearly improves efficiency, accuracy, or commercial performance, it stops being discretionary and becomes part of the operating model.”
Practical takeaways for InsurTech founders
If you are selling into insurers or brokers today, a few actions can materially improve your chances of success:
- Audit your sales narrative: where is ROI explicit, not implied?
- Map your product clearly to insurer and broker KPIs.
- Stop running pilots without agreed success criteria.
- Equip founders and senior sales leaders to lead ROI conversations confidently.
- Treat regulation and governance as part of your selling context, not an afterthought.
Upliift’s role in helping InsurTech Companies win
Upliift partners with European software founders building mission-critical products for regulated industries, with insurance as a core focus. Our approach is based on Permanent Equity, aligning our investment time horizon with the realities of insurance. Modernising the core of an insurance value chain does not happen in a single budget cycle. It requires governance, product focus, and a commercial model that encourages long-term resilience.
As Ángel Blesa reflects:
“Upliift is the right partner for Codeoscopic at the right time. They bring a long-term mindset that allows us to keep building for the future — to remain ambitious and focused on what matters most: innovation, people, and our customers.”
For founders navigating the shift toward ROI-driven buying, having a partner who understands both insurance and enterprise selling, coupled with a long-term outlook can make a meaningful difference.
If these challenges sound familiar, we’re open to a conversation about what your next step might be.
