Inside Ominimo's $1.6B Unicorn Run: Serbia's First Insurtech Giant and the MGA-to-Carrier Gamble

Founded in 2024 by Dušan Komar, Dennis Weinbender, and Laszlo Horvath (also reported as Laszlo Horvat) — former consultants and entrepreneurs with Serbian and Hungarian roots — the company launched bootstrapped . In its first year of operation in Hungary, it signed 300,000 policies before taking any outside capital . Headquartered in Novi Sad, Serbia, with a presence in Budapest, Hungary, Ominimo now serves nearly 1 million customers across four European markets .

The Capital-Light MGA That Prints Premiums

Ominimo operates as a Managing General Agent (MGA), meaning it handles distribution, underwriting, policy administration, and claims management for partner insurers, but does not currently carry the insurance risk on its own balance sheet . It uses AI, advanced mathematical models, and data analysis to price motor insurance — mandatory liability (MTPL) and comprehensive (CASCO) — more accurately than traditional carriers . Underwriting capacity is provided by DA Direkt, the direct insurance subsidiary of Zurich Insurance Group, which also holds a 5% equity stake in Ominimo following its April 2025 Series A .

This capital-light model has allowed Ominimo to scale profitably from day one. The company reports that it is already profitable and has reached a gross written premium run-rate exceeding €350 million annually . Its gross written premium run-rate has grown approximately 12x since 2024 .

Valuation Trajectory: From €200M to €1.4B in 15 Months

Ominimo's valuation growth has been extraordinary:

• April 2025 — Series A at a ~$200–220 million valuation, led by Zurich Insurance Group .
• July 2026 — Series B at a ~$1.6 billion valuation — an 8x increase in roughly 15 months .

This rapid appreciation reflects the market's confidence in Ominimo's AI-driven underwriting edge, its profitable MGA model, and its potential to disrupt European motor insurance.

Expansion Plans: Western Europe and the US by 2027

Ominimo says it will use the Series B capital for three main objectives :

• Secure its own insurance licence, transitioning from a pure MGA to carrying risk on its balance sheet.
• Expand into Belgium, Romania, Spain, Italy, and France.
• Enter the US market in 2027.

The Core Risk Question: Can the MGA Become a Carrier?

The company's planned transition from a capital-light MGA to a licensed insurer carrying its own underwriting risk is the central strategic challenge. As a distribution-and-data-science platform, Ominimo has been able to scale profitably without bearing insurance losses directly. Once it holds its own licence, it will face adverse selection, reserving adequacy, regulatory capital requirements, and potential loss ratios that pure MGAs never encounter .

Whether its AI-driven risk models can outperform incumbent carriers' underwriting at scale — and whether the $1.6 billion valuation can be sustained once the balance sheet carries actual insurance liabilities — is an open question. The market will begin to answer it once the licence is obtained and the first set of proprietary claims data emerges.

Bottom Line

Ominimo's story is one of extraordinary execution and capital efficiency in the MGA model. The leap to carrier status is where many insurtechs have stumbled. The valuation thesis hinges on whether its data science advantage is durable enough to underwrite profitably at scale across multiple new geographies and lines.