Meet Anina Lutz, CEO of Calingo Insurance. The Fintech startup offers digital pet insurance embedded at the point of need, e.g. directly at the breeder, via vets or pet shops. In November, Anina and the other nine Swiss National Fintech Team members will fly to London on a business development and investor roadshow.
Name: Anina Lutz
Location: Zurich
Nationality: Swiss
Graduated from: University of Basel
Job title: CEO & Co-Founder
Number of employees: 25
Money raised: CHF 7M
Can you tell us who your product or solution helps, and how?
At Calingo, we believe every pet deserves a life full of joy and wellbeing. That’s why we offer pet parents a modern and fair health and accident insurance for their dogs and cats. We make protection simple and available exactly when pet owners need it: e.g. at the vet, in the pet store or through breeders and of course fully online. And because we care beyond insurance, our pet health plans include services like free telemedicine, helping pets stay healthy from the start while giving pet owners peace of mind.
"Always engage with your customers
to ensure you’re building a product
that truly fits their needs."
What market are you addressing and what is the potential of your startup in that market?
Calingo addresses the pet insurance market, which is largely underdeveloped despite rising demand. With less than 10% penetration and 2.5 M cats and dogs in Swiss households, there’s a huge gap for modern, simple and digital health coverage for pets. The market is growing steadily, as pets are increasingly treated as family members. As the fastest-growing pet insurance in Switzerland, we are about to become market leader within the next years. Neighboring countries show similar low penetration, offering significant potential for international expansion. Our innovative, point-of-need solution positions us to capture this growing market.
How and where did you come up with the idea for your startup?
We saw a huge need for digital and convenient insurance solutions. While the insurance market is generally very saturated, pet insurance stood out as an interesting mass market that behaves like a niche market due to its low penetration and high demand. That’s why we created Calingo: to make insurance simple, accessible and perfectly timed.
What do you expect from the Venture Leaders roadshow, and how do you think it will help you achieve your vision?
We expect the Venture Leaders roadshow to connect us with investors and international peers who share our vision with pet insurance. The network we gain will help us scale Calingo to become the leading digital pet insurance provider in Switzerland and beyond.
What are your team’s key achievements to date?
We are the fastest-growing pet insurance in Switzerland, with a 3x growth from 2023 to 2024 and over 10’000 customers. We’ve built a strong brand with an NPS of 55 and a 4.6-star rating on Google. We’ve proven product-market fit and are now scaling both our B2C and B2B2C channels through key partnerships in the Swiss market.
Is there a key principle or value that guides you as you build your company?
Our guiding principles are collaboration and responsibility. Mutual respect and shared vision with both our team and our customers are key. We believe in working together in a diverse team to deliver excellent services.
What is the most important lesson you have learned as a founder?
The most important lesson I’ve learned as a founder is that support and great solutions are always available, never hesitate to ask for it. Also, always engage with your customers to ensure you’re building a product that truly fits their needs.
What is your favorite productivity hack or tool and why?
We always prepare for meetings in advance and use timeboxing to stay focused. It helps us prioritize tasks, make the most of every minute and keep projects moving efficiently. As a startup I believe it is also very important to say no and focus on what’s most important.
What was your dream job when you were a child?
Architect, still love building, just now it’s a company ;)
