Rostock, February 28, 2024. AnneLi Meisel has been installed as Head of B2B Partnerships at the Rostock-based InsurTech hepster since September 2022. Her education took her from Shanghai to the USA to Rostock. With hepster, she aims to be at the forefront of European In-surTechs.
As Head of B2B Partnerships at hepster, AnneLi Meisel is responsible for sales via B2B partners and the strategic direction of the respective cooperation. She also helps to optimise the structures and processes in the B2B team and to define the strategy. Starting in September 2022 was like jumping in at the deep end for her: “It has been a challenging period: within the first three months, we built a completely new team structure, optimised sales and acquisition processes, and fine-tuned the partner journey and target groups.”
Before returning to Germany, Meisel worked in a senior position at an InsurTech for security deposit insurance in the US for more than two years. She was hired as Partner Success Manager in New York and then as Team Lead Revenue Operations. During this time, she witnessed the rapid growth of the company from 25 to more than 300 employees.
After her studies in Shanghai, she moved to New York, where she worked as a business development consultant for Total Management and later spent two years with the real estate group LandSeaAir, including as a client relations manager and licensed salesperson.
She eventually got in touch with hepster co-founder Hanna Bachmann via a shared network in mid-2022: “I found hepster's concept and approach exciting. The corporate culture, the team, the business model and the timing - everything was right, especially as I had wanted to return to Germany for a long time”, says AnneLi Meisel.
Hanna Bachmann is delighted to have won AnneLi Meisel and her wealth of experience for hepster: “AnneLi has an unusually diverse background. In a sense, she is at home on three continents and has gained personal and professional expertise in different cultures. hepster is enriched by her experience.”
InsurTech from the USA vs. Germany – what are the differences?
The basic understanding of embedded insurance is completely different in the US. There are several differences between the German and American markets: “Growth in American companies can be rapid, and multimillion-dollar funding rounds happen more often. The German market is sometimes slower and emphasises consistency. To be profitable, the focus lies on sustainable management.”
Different approaches lead to different philosophies: “In the US, growth is often exponential. Their goal is expansion. Digitalisation is much more advanced.“ In the EU and Germany, additional bureaucracy is to be expected, but there are clear rules for insurance. The US, on the other hand, is the less regulated “Wild West”.
However, she sees strong parallels in two key areas: Motivation and culture. This helped with her start at hepster: “I have been able to work in two dynamic start-ups. The team spirit and shared belief in the vision and mission are incredibly strong. The feeling and knowledge of making a difference and playing an active role in achieving goals and development is also unbeatable.”
And what are her goals for 2024? This year, Meisel wants to make the structure and collaboration within her team even more successful and ensure “that we and hepster grow in the way we aspire. My big goal is to establish hepster as the European market leader for embedded insurance. This includes a sales target of 75% growth this year compared to last year.”