Embedded Products Make Insurance Accessible in Latin America

MetLife recently acquired a 20% stake in Klimber, and funding for Latin American insurtechs has been trending higher; what makes the region attractive to investors?

Latin America has been experiencing exponential growth in digitalization. Just a few years ago, many people didn’t even have a bank account and were completely outside the system. Today, with the rise of digital wallets, digital banks, and widespread mobile phone access, millions are interacting for the first time with formal financial systems. This shift is unlocking a new wave of opportunities.

In the region, we don’t have a strong culture of insurance. Traditionally, products have been targeted to the higher segments of society. We began working closely with our product sponsors—our clients—to build not only awareness about the importance of being insured, but also products that can be offered to millions of people who have never had access to insurance in their lives.

We are doing this through the apps that everyone uses in their daily lives— digital wallets, digital banks, retailers, and super apps. (See Briefly: Super App) Through these platforms, we’re creating multiple touchpoints and offering products that are accessible to everyone for the first time.

Since everyone has a mobile phone, we’ve built embedded-insurance experiences directly into the user journey—whether they’re applying for credit, buying a ticket, or making a purchase. We offer a relevant product at the right moment. For example, if someone is going to a concert, we offer event cancellation insurance so they can be reimbursed if they can’t attend. This sounds simple and is common in other markets, but until recently we didn’t have the technology or the products to make it possible.

We are now developing both the technology and the products. We’re also very pleased with our partnership with MetLife, as it allows us to pair our technological expertise with their global product know-how and leadership.

How important is it to create this online ecosystem?

It is highly relevant. We are offering products that people can use in their daily lives. They can receive reimbursements for pharmacy expenses or access telemedicine services. In Brazil, for example, we developed a very interesting solution with a food-delivery app: insurance products for drivers that are active only during the delivery. We also created health coverage particularly for women who are pregnant. It’s a small benefit, but it is meaningful for people who previously had no access to any type of coverage.

Describe the products and how they vary from country to country.

We focus primarily on personal insurance. We started with very simple life products, and we sell a significant volume of personal accident insurance, which in some countries, and for certain activities, can be mandatory. This makes it a product that people actively seek out.

We also offer health products, which are particularly relevant in countries like Chile. Health systems vary significantly across the region; in Chile, it is common for people to have private health insurance, because the system is expensive and no single product provides full coverage. For this reason, we tailor our solutions specifically for the Chilean market.

We work with credit life products in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. In addition, we have savings products that can be combined with life or personal accident insurance, and we partner with retailers, telcos, and other industries to deliver savings solutions.

Because most of our teams operate regionally, we can take what we learn in one country and apply it in another. Our technology is designed to launch the same product in multiple markets—it’s multicurrency and multilanguage. Of course, we incorporate local adaptations and comply with each country’s regulations, but we aim to keep the same product concept while adapting the implementation. This allows us to deliver a consistent experience across countries when working with regional sponsors. It also simplifies things for them, since they integrate with us once and we handle deployment across different markets.

We can also combine different products to create what we call bundles. For example, with a life product we can include various complementary coverages. Our technology is built to support these different combinations and configurations.

What companies are you working with as sponsors?

We work with sponsors such as banks, digital banks, digital wallets, and retailers. But we also partner with companies you wouldn’t typically associate with insurance, such as food-delivery platforms and super apps. Embedded insurance can be offered across a wide range of industries. This flexibility allows us to reach users in many different contexts and deliver protection exactly where it’s most relevant.

How does technology make it possible to be profitable on small transactions?

Because we are fully focused on automation, we handle millions of operations every day. Traditionally, insurance companies concentrated on high-end products because agents and brokers required high commissions, and the one-on-one sales model depended on large premiums to be profitable. When you move to a mass-market model, commissions must be very low. We want end customers to access affordable pricing. This is only possible through technology, which allows us to offer products at scale, reaching millions of people across the region at the same time.

How critical is the customer experience in this? And how do you monitor that?

It is essential. Our operating model varies depending on the sponsor, because some of them have their own customer experience teams and manage the full front-end experience within their app. For example, in Brazil we work with a large digital bank where we have more than 15 products; they design the final user experience because it is their customer and their interface.

In other cases, we provide microsites through APIs, and the sponsor integrates them into their website. There, we create the experience for the end user. For most sponsors, we offer a customer portal where users can manage their policies, download certificates, cancel a policy, change beneficiaries, and more.

We also have a dedicated customer-experience team that constantly monitors performance, interactions, and conversion rates, and we continuously improve the journey for the end consumer.

Tell me about your work with MetLife and MetLife Xcelerator.

We partnered with MetLife almost two years ago. We combined our technology with their product and commercial expertise to launch MetLife Xcelerator, a business unit focused on digital insurance. It has been an excellent partnership. We’ve grown significantly together, and our cultures and business vision are strongly aligned.

Klimber builds the technology, and together we design the go-to-market strategy. MetLife is the risk carrier, and we operate jointly as one team across all the markets I mentioned. Even though we are separate companies, we work together as if we were a single organization.

Klimber launched at a time when the digital economy wasn’t as mature in Latin America. What was that like?

We have been developing our technology for seven years. Everything is built in-house. Today, we have a team of 70 developers and a large data team. Our technology evolves every day. As new sponsors, new products, new countries, or new challenges arise, we work together with MetLife to understand the product, design the experience, and define all the operational conditions. Our platform is end-to-end. In many cases, it handles not only quoting and issuing policies but also managing claims. For this reason, working as one unified team with shared processes and coordination is fundamental.

Klimber now operates in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia. What are your growth plans going forward?

Latin America remains our core and the place where our model proves its greatest impact. Together with MetLife, we set a bold target: reaching 50 million customers in the coming years. We are moving fast—reaching 15 million in just two years—and we are on track to operate in every market where MetLife is present.

Our vision goes far beyond regional expansion. Klimber is building the most scalable insurance infrastructure, and the opportunities we see globally are significant. While our short-term priority is to deepen our presence in Latin America, we are preparing for the next chapter: taking our technology and our operating model to new continents. We are already evaluating opportunities with global partners in markets where the need for digital insurance infrastructure is equally urgent. Our mission is to close protection gaps at scale. Latin America is where we are proving it—but the vision is global.