Zego CEO Sten Saar tells Peter Littlejohns about his life as an entrepreneur, the lessons he learned along the way and how he and his co-founders are changing insurance for gig economy drivers
It’s rare the world of insurance technology – a sector so commonly referred to now it’s acquired the nomenclature insurtech – has a net benefit to anybody outside the industry.
But insurtech start-up Zego, founded by three individuals steeped within the gig economy, claims to have solved the problem of expensive cover for drivers who take odd jobs delivering food or picking up taxi passengers with its hourly rate policy.
One of those individuals is Sten Saar, a 33-year-old originally from Estonia, who experienced what he termed as the gig economy’s “insurance problem” first-hand while working for food delivery firm Deliveroo.
Starting his first business at 17, and going on to play a key role in scaling up several start-ups that are now established brands, Sten is no stranger to entrepreneurship.
He tells Compelo how he founded his first business, his experience as a senior boss at Deliveroo and how he and Zego’s co-founders created its platform in only six weeks.
Sten Saar on how Zego’s hourly insurance platform works
Zego’s technology allows it to integrate with several major companies, including Deliveroo, Uber and Just Eat.
“You create your Zego account and we link to your account on any of those platforms, and then every time you switch your availability to accept jobs, we get a ping on our server and your insurance starts automatically,” says Sten.
“Then when you turn off your availability to go home, your insurance stops.
“The driver doesn’t have to do anything and it happens
