German startup Pliant acquires Austrian startup hi.health to bring its payment expertise to the insurance market

Berlin-based FinTech Pliant has acquired the Vienna-based Insurtech startup hi.health to enable Pliant to apply its payment expertise to the insurance sector while also gaining valuable industry-specific know-how.

This marks the company’s second acquisition following the purchase of Friday Finance in 2023. hi.health will continue to operate independently, while benefiting from Pliant’s support and infrastructure to increase the strength, stability, and efficiency of its product offering.

“hi.health has developed an impressive solution at the intersection of FinTech and insurance. By embedding a payment option into the submission process, they are revolutionising what has traditionally been a cumbersome reimbursement workflow and creating real value in the process. That’s exactly our ambition: to make complex operational workflows digitally simple,” said Malte Rau, CEO of Pliant.

Founded in 2020, Pliant supports over 3,500 businesses and more than 20 partners globally. As a licensed e-money institution (EMI), they issue Visa-powered credit cards in 11 currencies across more than 30 countries, helping companies streamline and simplify payments.

Their modular, API-first platform helps businesses streamline spending, improve cash flow, and integrate payments into their financial workflows. Designed for industries with complex payment needs, such as travel and fleet, Pliant aims to enable greater efficiency, control, and profitability.

They serve two primary customer segments:

• Companies looking to optimise operational processes through intuitive apps and APIs, gaining control, automation, and financial flexibility through extended credit lines.
• Companies such as financial software platforms, ERP providers, and banks that want to
  launch or enhance their credit card offerings using Pliant’s embedded finance and white-label solutions.

Pilant has developed a digital interface between insurance carriers and customers. By using a payment card, insured individuals no longer have to pay upfront and can submit invoices (e.g. healthcare invoices and prescriptions) for reimbursement directly via a mobile app.

hi.health was founded in 2019 by Fredrik Debong (Co-founder of mySugr) and Sebastian Gruber (formerly McKinsey).

“Our partnership with Pliant allows us to think even bigger about our mission. Together, we have the opportunity to transform financial processes in the insurance and healthcare industries – eliminating the cumbersome reimbursement procedures and significantly improving the experience for both users and healthcare providers,” said Sebastian Gruber, CEO and Co-founder of hi.health.

This strategic acquisition reinforces Pliant’s strategy of combining a payments platform with deep industry know-how. While Pliant already handles digital card and payment infrastructure for banks, the acquisition of hi.health brings insurance-specific expertise to the company.

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