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Key people at La Parisienne Assurances.
Wakam, formerly La Parisienne Assurances, designs and provides digital, white-label insurance solutions across Europe. The company specializes in crafting tailor-made property and casualty insurance products, leveraging a fully digital and agile approach to meet diverse market needs. This B2B2C model enables partners to distribute bespoke insurance offerings efficiently and effectively.
Originally established as La Parisienne Assurances in 1829, the company boasts a long history in the insurance sector. It underwent a significant transformation and rebranded as Wakam in 2020, signaling its strategic pivot to become a digital-first insurer. This rebranding reflected an ambition to modernize its operations and expand its reach with a focus on technological innovation.
Wakam’s products are utilized by a wide array of partners who integrate these white-label solutions into their own customer propositions. The company’s long-term vision is to be a leader in digital insurance, committed to fostering transparent and impactful insurance experiences throughout the industry. It aims to continue evolving its offerings to empower its partners and their end-users.
Key people at La Parisienne Assurances.
La Parisienne Assurances, founded in 1829 as a family-owned insurer specializing in horse-drawn carriage accidents in Paris streets, has evolved into a digital insurance provider focused on niche products like glass breakage, individual accidents, heavy vehicle damage, and mechanical breakdowns.[1] Acquired by Protegys in 2000, it reported around $100-122 million in annual revenue with 18-50 employees based in Paris, Île-de-France, before rebranding to Wakam in 2020 to emphasize its shift to 100% digital, white-label insurance solutions for e-retailers, brokers, and insurtech partners.[1][2][5] Wakam operates internationally with licenses in 13 European countries, deriving over 55% of premiums from outside France by 2019, and prioritizes usage-based, parametric products beyond traditional motor insurance.[6]
La Parisienne Assurances began in 1829 as a family commandite company insuring accidents from horse-drawn carriages in Paris.[1] In 1858, it ceded its "Chevaux et Voitures" contracts to l'Urbaine in exchange for exclusive rights to "Bris de Glaces" (glass breakage), which became its cornerstone for decades.[1] Diversification started in the 1990s with individual accident contracts in 1994 and heavy vehicle damage in 1997, focusing on niches like mechanical failures.[1] Protegys acquired it in December 2000, fueling strong growth through international expansion and new segments like affinity insurance in 2014.[1] By 2020, reflecting its digital, global pivot—with non-French premiums surging 68% in 2019—it rebranded to Wakam.[2][6]
La Parisienne Assurances, now Wakam, rides the insurtech wave of digital transformation, enabling white-label solutions amid rising demand for embedded insurance in e-commerce and tech platforms.[2][6] Timing aligns with post-Brexit moves like its UK branch setup via Temporary Permissions Regime, tapping European market fragmentation.[3] Favorable forces include surging usage-based insurance (e.g., parametric products) and non-motor diversification, as traditional insurers lag in digital agility.[6] It influences the ecosystem by partnering with innovators, fostering new models that blend insurance with tech journeys and accelerating insurtech adoption across Europe.[6]
Wakam is poised to deepen European penetration, prioritizing usage-based and parametric innovations while expanding partnerships in high-growth markets like UK/Ireland.[6] Trends like embedded insurance and AI-driven risk assessment will propel it, potentially boosting non-France revenue dominance amid digital insurer consolidation. Its evolution from 19th-century niche player to pan-European digital enabler suggests growing influence as a preferred backer for insurtechs, sustaining the momentum sparked by its 1829 Paris origins.[1][2][6]
