32 international startups and scaleups. Over 130 innovators in the room. Concrete questions. New perspectives. And plenty of potential for collaboration: That was the TECH ACCELERATOR DAY 2026 hosted by the InsurTech Hub Munich.
In mentoring sessions and speed dates with experienced industry experts such as Corin Targan (Deloitte), Sebastian Pitzler ( BSI Software), and Dr. Klaus Driever (Allianz), the founders learned about the unique characteristics of the German insurance market and how—perhaps collaboratively—they can redesign the customer journey. The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) provided answers to regulatory questions at its “Pop-up Embassy”—and interest was enormous.
The reverse pitches focused on a change of perspective: Annette Kick ( Munich Re), Sandra John (LV 1871), Daniela Schröder ( HUK-COBURG), Stephan Tappainer (Allianz Technology), and Jacqueline-Helena Strohschen (R+V) provided insights into the industry’s current challenges—and highlighted where innovative solutions are truly needed.
But of course, the founders also got their time in the spotlight: They presented technologies and solutions in the areas of Insurance Core Operations, Trust and Compliance, and Distribution & Industry Adjacents.
Participants gained exciting insights from the panel discussion focused on investment, featuring Björn Frank ( NTT DATA), Tizian Hoppen (HTGF), Margaux Gregoir (Serena), and Michael Gackstatter ( TODAY). In his keynote, Marcel Pesch outlined how technological change is also transforming the world of work: “AI won’t replace us—but those who use it will.”
Pesch observed: “The insurance industry is the most forward-thinking when it comes to AI”—to which Linus Kameni ( Vaarhaft) and James Hynard (CastLabs) indirectly responded in their presentations: Trust is and remains the industry’s most important currency. Johannes Hötter from Edgeless Systems concluded with an exciting use case.
The highlight of our day: the large number of participants and the excellent conversations we had. After all, innovation arises above all from direct exchange: when tricky challenges meet new ways of thinking, when connections lead to collaborations, and when ideas give rise to concrete next steps. And that’s exactly why we’ve created the “ InsurTech Hub Munich ” as a platform.
