Meet Riskwolf co-founder Thomas Krapf and find out how he provides insurance coverage for the 21st century 

15.06.2021 07:49, Isabelle Mitchell

Thomas Krapf co-founded Riskwolf, a Venture Leader Mobile that insures the digital economy. The Zurich-based insurtech startup creates protection for digital risks that are underserved by traditional insurance: Riskwolf’s platform allows insurers to quantify and confirm connectivity outages to create and operate innovative protection products. Learn more about Thomas’s expectations for the Venture Leaders Mobile experience, and find out which podcasts and books inspire his entrepreneurial path.

The Venture Leaders Mobile 2021 will accelerate their expansion into the global market and strengthen their business network by attending the Mobile World Congress 2021 in Barcelona, Spain, to meet with top-notch investors and industry leaders. To introduce you to the members of the Swiss National Startup Team, we asked each entrepreneur to complete a short profile and choose six questions from a questionnaire about their personal and professional life.

Name: Thomas Krapf
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Nationality: Swiss
Graduated from: University of Zurich, lic. oec. publ. (Masters in Business and Economics) 1997 
Job title: Co-founder and CEO of Riskwolf
Number of employees: 6 FTE currently adding 2 more (as of 04/2021)
Money raised: We just closed an external pre-seed round of CHF 750K
First touchpoint with Venturelab: Early 2020 in the Venturelab Startup Training

“Riskwolf enables insurers to create simple, reliable products quickly to insure the emerging risks in the digital economy.”
 
How and where did you come up with the idea for your startup?
I was employed in the re-/insurance industry for 20 years. I believe that insurance must be simple, reliable, and fast to cover the emerging risks in the growing digital economy properly. The idea for Riskwolf emerged while my co-founder René and I worked on a large digital transformation project in Zurich. It became clear that the future of insurance was parametric and real-time, data-driven. The power provided by cloud computing, the ubiquity of bandwidth, and the emergence of the digital platform economy allow us to realize Riskwolf’s vision.

What do you expect from the Venture Leaders roadshow, and how will it help you achieve your vision?
We expect to introduce Riskwolf to investors and potential corporate partners in the mobile and telecom sector and showcase our embedded protection offering. We think the connections we make at the Mobile World Congress can be key to our global growth prospects. Riskwolf strongly believes that nobody succeeds alone. We also understand that two of the biggest problems early-stage startups face are discovery and conversion. We are excited to be part of the Swiss Venture Leaders team participating in the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona because we understand that this will help Riskwolf solve the two issues mentioned above.

What is your favorite podcast? 
Definitely, our own soon-to-be-launched Wolfcast! Watch out for it! We look forward to engaging with great guests and discussing interesting perspectives on insurance and how real-time data will change the insurance paradigm. We want to find out what really is going on with digitization in the industry and why new and faster ways to protect can provide a greater good to economies and societies.
 
What is your favorite book?
There are many! I like different types of literature and typically read three or four books in parallel. I like authors such as Ottessa Mosfegh with her unique, quiet, and sarcastic style. Also, I just re-read Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose—a great story with a lot of commonalities to today’s world. I like to challenge my own perceptions with outside-in thinkers like Malcolm Gladwell. I can delve into Carlo Rovelli’s theoretical physics and elaboration on time and space. Having lived in New York City myself, I also enjoy the US author couple Siri Hustvedt and Paul Auster.

What are you most proud of?
To be able to lead Riskwolf to the next stage with my co-founder René Papesch and our growing and international team. To be a proud father of my two girls and partner of my wife. To get up every morning and to be able to do something positive!

What do you do when you are creatively stuck?
First, change my perspective: Think from the other side and take out the stickiness using logic and positive thinking. Second, change my physical location: Go outdoors. Play with my kids. Do something simple. Finally, when all of this does not help: Go to bed early and sleep well!

What is the most challenging aspect of being a founder?
Balancing short-, mid-, and long-term activities without being pressured too much by things that do not work out immediately. Stick to timelines and manage expectations. Do not try to solve all problems at once.

What is the most rewarding aspect of being a founder? 
Being able to create a real company out of thin air is a huge thing. In the last 15 months, we had commercial engagements and set up contracts with clients, partners, investors, and employees in 18 countries across the US, Europe, and Asia. Being able to position Riskwolf in these markets is an incredible experience. Also, I am extremely proud that we were able to raise our first external investment round with strong and professional investors located in six countries and three continents.

Last but not least, could you show us your workspace? 
Here is a photo of the Riskwolf team on a rooftop in Vienna, Austria, celebrating another successful workday! 



For more information and updates on Riskwolf and the Venture Leaders Mobile, follow the Venture Leaders Mobile 2021 team with #VleadersMobile on social media or subscribe to our newsletter. 
 
This year's Venture Leaders Mobile program is supported by Huawei, Swisscom, and VISCHER.