Berlin-based insurance startup, Feather, has appointed Eloi Lanthiez to lead its digital insurance services for expats in France. The appointment boosts Feather’s expertise in the French market, which is expected to reach a projected market size of US$234.78bn by 2025.
Eloi Lanthiez is responsible for accelerating Feather’s growth in the French market as the Country Launcher for France. His mission is to build strong relationships with risk carriers to offer a comprehensive range of insurance products tailored to expats arriving and settling in France. He will also focus on establishing local partnerships to drive customer acquisition. Eloi brings deep expertise in both insurance and market expansion having started his career in consulting before moving into the startup world. He played a key role in launching Embea as Head of Go-to-Market, focusing on embedded life insurance, following his role as CEO for France at Mutumutu.
Feather currently offers expat health insurance, travel health insurance and life insurance in France, with private health insurance and home insurance set to launch soon. The business has been officially accredited by Orias to perform as an insurance broker in France. France is one of the most popular destinations for expats, and in 2023 there were 5,6M foreigners living in the country on long-term or permanent basis. Among the expats in residence, there are currently around 170,000 British citizens reported to be living in France.
Rob Schumacher, CEO and co-founder at Feather says “Eloi really gets insurance like few other people, having both launched an insurance company in France and headed up GTM for an embedded life insurer in Germany. I love working with him and know he’ll attract and build the kind of long lasting relationships we need to thrive with insurance partners. He’s going to play a huge role in the company’s expansion as we head further into Europe.”
Eloi Lanthiez says, “Feather has already dramatically improved the insurance experience for expats moving to Germany and I am motivated to match those results, spearheading the business’ move into France. Expats have enough admin on their plates when relocating, and dealing with a complex insurance system in a language you don’t know can be a real pain. Feather presents a fantastic opportunity for me to bring my go-to-market expertise to the business and build out the offering for customers in Europe.”
The appointment of Eloi Lanthiez follows the appointment of Jaime Sans Alvarez to lead operations in Spain. And, in 2024 Feather announced a $6M raise to expand into further markets across Europe as, having initially launched in Germany, a wider European footprint means that expats can now take their insurance with them when they move.
