FRIDA

What FRIDA does

FRIDA e.V. (Free Insurance Data Initiative) is a Cologne-headquartered, non-profit association (eingetragener Verein) that develops open, standardized application programming interfaces for the German insurance industry, operating an Open Insurance initiative modeled on open banking principles. The organization co-creates REST API specifications based on OpenAPI Standards 3.0+ with OAuth2 for identification and authentication, and has to date published seven API products covering motor claims (CarClaimsAPI), cyber risk assessment (CyberAPI), document exchange (DigitalDocumentsAPI), building insurance and property risk data (RealEstateAPI Policy and Risk), retirement planning (PensionAPI), and statutory-private health insurer coordination (HealthCareAPI). Specifications are openly documented on GitHub in English and German and distributed through the FRIDA Marketplace at marketplace.freeinsurancedata.de.

FRIDA's commercial model is a two-tier annual subscription membership: 5,000 EUR per year for regular members (typically insurance companies with voting rights) and 500 EUR per year for startups and emerging companies, with revenue reinvested into the initiative's standardization activity. Membership and partner count is stated as "approaching 100," spanning primary insurers (Baloise, HDI, Deutsche Rück, Provinzial, WWK, ALH Group), major technology platforms (Hypoport Insurtech, DATEV, SAP Fioneer, Red Hat, msg Group), implementation partners (Accenture, Deloitte), research (Fraunhofer ISST, codecamp), InsurTechs (Finanzguru, BANKSapi, BSI Software), and trade associations (VOTUM Verband, InsurLab Germany).

Governance is by an elected board chaired by Julius Kretz (ALTE LEIPZIGER Lebensversicherung) and Slobodan Pantelic (HDI), with operational staff including a Partner Manager and a small technical core. The organization is registered at c/o InsurLab Germany, Hohenzollernring 85-87, Cologne, and operates exclusively in the German market today, while publishing whitepapers and API designs aligned with the EU FIDA regulation in anticipation of broader European applicability.

Name

FRIDA

Legal name

FRIDA e.V.

Website

https://freeinsurancedata.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

FRIDA e.V. is a Cologne-based non-profit association developing standardized REST APIs (Open Insurance) for the German insurance market, funded by annual membership fees and used by major insurers, system integrators, and InsurTechs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Open Insurance API Standards

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Open Banking APIs & Connectivity (FSAMAFAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Open Banking, Account Aggregation & Payment Initiation APIs (BPAMAFAJ)

Keywords

• Open insurance APIs
• Insurance data exchange
• Insurance API standards
• Open insurance initiative
• REST API development

Headquarters

HQ city

Cologne

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: FRIDA e.V. generates revenue through annual membership fees. Regular members (typically insurance companies) pay 5,000 EUR per year. Startups and smaller companies pay 500 EUR per year. As a non-profit organization, revenue is reinvested into the initiative's activities and API development.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

FRIDA e.V. is a non-profit Open Insurance Initiative that develops, standardizes, and publishes ready-to-use REST APIs covering motor insurance claims, cyber risk assessment, digital document exchange, real estate and building insurance, healthcare coordination between statutory and private insurers, and pension data transparency. The APIs are openly documented, based on OpenAPI 3.0+ standards with OAuth2 authentication, and made available to insurers, brokers, InsurTechs, and technology providers via GitHub and a dedicated API marketplace. Membership in the association is funded through annual fees of €5,000 for regular members and €500 for startups, with revenue reinvested into use-case development.

Product overview

FRIDA e.V. is a non-profit Open Insurance Initiative developing standardized APIs for the German insurance market. The portfolio consists of seven distinct API products organized by insurance domain: CarClaimsAPI for digital vehicle claims handling via smartphone wallet; CyberAPI for domain-based cyber risk assessment; DigitalDocumentsAPI for cross-provider insurance document delivery; HealthCareAPI for coordination between statutory and private health insurers; RealEstateAPI (Policy) for building insurance data exchange; RealEstateAPI (Risk) for property risk data aggregation; and PensionAPI for retirement planning transparency. These REST APIs operate independently but share common goals of standardization, interoperability, and end-customer benefit, following open-source principles and complementing existing standards like BiPRO or GDV.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CarClaimsAPI Digital wallet solution enabling car insurance contract data to be stored on smartphones and motor insurance claims to be reported simply and automatically via QR code in emergencies, with standardized interfaces and intuitive processes for insurers, intermediaries, and end customers.
• CyberAPI Domain check and risk management API for cyber insurance that enables insurance intermediaries to perform outside-in scans, checking customer web addresses against up to four defined criteria for cyber risk advisory and underwriting.
• DigitalDocumentsAPI Central, cross-provider access API enabling insurers to transmit documents securely and in compliance with data protection to digital mailboxes provided by third-party providers, where customers can access bundled insurance documents in digital document safes.
• HealthCareAPI Healthcare API managing digital communication between statutory (GKV) and private (PKV) health insurers, facilitating processes such as treatment and cost plan (HKP) coordination for supplementary health insurance claims.
• RealEstateAPI (Policy) API standard for real estate data exchange relating to building insurance, enabling standardized information exchange between insurers, companies, and end customers without expensive system adjustments, with first implementation being the digital insurance card for residential buildings.
• RealEstateAPI (Risk) API for exchanging property risk data from third-party systems such as land tax databases and software providers like SkenData and PriceHubble, standardizing property risk data exchange across all providers for insurers and intermediaries.
• PensionAPI API enabling third parties to provide pension data centrally and up to date, creating a complete picture of all retirement plans and allowing users to assess their pension gap and plan actively for retirement through pension cockpit and retirement planning applications.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduction in IT costs through standardized APIs instead of multiple individual interfaces
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• BaloisecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor German insurance company (Baloise Group) that is a member of FRIDA and participates in developing Open Insurance standards and use cases.
• BANKSapicoreTechnology or IntegrationTechnology company providing API infrastructure for banking and insurance data integration, member of FRIDA initiative.
• FinanzgurucoreTechnology or IntegrationPersonal finance management app that is a member of FRIDA, contributing to Open Insurance ecosystem development.
• AccenturecoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerGlobal consulting firm and member of FRIDA providing implementation expertise and consulting services for Open Insurance initiatives.
• DeloittecoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerMajor professional services firm and member of FRIDA providing advisory and implementation services for insurance digitalization.
• Hypoport Insurtech AGcoreTechnology or IntegrationTechnology platform provider for financial services and insurance, member and advisory board participant in FRIDA initiative.
• HDIcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor German primary insurer and member of FRIDA, participating in use case development and standard-setting.
• DATEVcoreTechnology or IntegrationLeading IT service provider for tax consultants, accountants, and lawyers in Germany, member of FRIDA for insurance data standards.
• InsurLab GermanycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInsurance innovation hub and co-location partner for FRIDA e.V. headquarters, supporting startup ecosystem and insurance innovation.
• VOTUM VerbandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAssociation of independent financial services companies in Europe (VOTUM) providing market expertise and networking for FRIDA.
• Fraunhofer ISSTminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFraunhofer Institute for Software and Systems Technology contributing research expertise to FRIDA initiatives.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Plaid: Dominant open-finance connectivity platform that provides API infrastructure linking banks, fintechs and consumer apps. Operates the commercial layer analogous to what FRIDA standardises: open-data connectivity for financial services, but at much larger scale and broader scope than FRIDA's insurance-only niche.
• Tink: European open banking platform owned by Visa, providing PSD2-compliant APIs for account aggregation, payment initiation and identity. Comparable to FRIDA as a connectivity provider in the open finance ecosystem, but commercially focused on banking rather than insurance.
• Insurance Europe: European insurance and reinsurance federation representing 36 national associations. Relevant comparable as a pan-European insurance coordination body — though it focuses on policy/advocacy rather than API standards, its role as an industry-wide convener overlaps with FRIDA's ecosystem-building function.
• GDV (Gesamtverband der Deutschen Versicherungswirtschaft): Umbrella association of German insurers that publishes industry data standards (e.g., GDV-Datensatz) and represents the sector politically. Comparable to FRIDA as a German insurance-wide coordination body, but incumbent in nature and broader in mandate than FRIDA's API-first focus.

Direct peers

• The Berlin Group: European standardisation initiative for open banking interoperability, defining NextGenPSD2 and SRTP APIs adopted by major European banks. Closely analogous to FRIDA's role: a multi-stakeholder, non-profit body defining open finance API standards that incumbents adopt to comply with PSD2/FIDA-like regulation.
• BiPRO e.V. German insurance industry's established standards body for data exchange, developing normative processes and interfaces used across the German market. Directly comparable to FRIDA as a competing/adjacent insurance standards organization, though focused on a longer-established normative standard.
• Open Insurance Implementation Entity (UK): UK initiative coordinated by the Financial Conduct Authority and industry to define and implement open insurance data-sharing standards. Functionally a sibling initiative to FRIDA in another jurisdiction — a non-profit, member-driven body setting open insurance API rules for the UK market.

Emerging players

• Konsentus: UK-based RegTech providing open banking API infrastructure including TPP identity and regulatory checking. An emerging player with partial overlap to FRIDA's open-finance API enablement role, though operating commercially in banking rather than the insurance sector.

Regional players

• Open Insurance Brasil (SUSEP Open Insurance): Brazil's regulator-led open insurance framework, requiring insurers to publish standardised APIs covering policy, claims and customer data. Comparable to FRIDA as an open-insurance API standardisation effort, but driven by a regulator in Latin America rather than by a member-led industry body in Europe.

Others

• NMB Solutions / Innopay Open Banking: Innopay is a Dutch consultancy that co-authored the Berlin Group NextGenPSD2 standards and advises on open finance strategy. Comparable to FRIDA as a thought-leadership and standards-development contributor in the open-finance space, though positioned as an advisory firm rather than a membership association.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@FRIDAe.V.?app=desktop
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/free-insurance-data-initiative
• Xx.com/frida_germany

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about FRIDA