Alexis Pantazis & Emilios Markou
Co-Founders and Executive Directors, Hellas Direct
“Insurance has existed for centuries as a product, we just had to ask ourselves some difficult questions in order to innovate it; like how can we make this product different. And then we slowly started to disrupt the traditional insurance product ”
Alexis Pantazis and Emilios Markou are the founders of Hellas Direct (and the first entrepreneurs to join the Endeavor Greece network). Hellas Direct was founded in 2011 with the vision to innovate the field of insurance: unlike traditional insurance, it follows a tech-empowered, direct-to-consumer business approach. To date, it has received € 40 million in funding from investors such as IFC and Portage3. Alexis and Emilios explain how important customer trust is in a market that requires consistency and stability, share tips on how to approach investors as a startup, but also how they built their team in Greece and Cyprus.
From Goldman Sachs to debt-stricken Greece and from mistakes to success
Two Cypriots having careers in Britain and in the USA left their positions in Goldman Sachs to found their own company in 2011. And for this decisive step they chose Greece at the peak of its debt crisis. It sounds daring, and by no means self-evident. However, Emilios Markou and Alexis Pantazis having no bias towards the country saw a remarkable opportunity. “We spotted a gap in the Greek market and decided to take the next step,” they both explain when talking at the Outliers, Endeavor Greece’s podcast series, whose media partner is MoneyReview. This market gap regarded the insurance industry and the company they founded is Hellas Direct, a leading online insurance company in Greece, which is among the ten top insurance companies in our country, accommodating at the moment 250,000 clients. They are currently aiming to enter the Top 5.