Techsurance - your weekly insurance technology readings🗞
June 28 - July 4
Hi everyone,
Happy 4th of July to all my American friends, hope you enjoyed the United States’ 245th birthday as much as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg did 😂
Here’s your weekly Insurtech digest from last week, subscribe and share if you like the content!
💲 VC fund-raising and M&A news
Digit Insurance, the Indian (mostly motor) Insurtech, raises $200 million from Sequoia India, at a whopping $3.5 billion valuation. Digit Insurance mostly sells motor insurance (75% of its product mix), in addition to commercial fire insurance and health insurance. The Indian online insurance sector is burgeoning, with companies like PolicyBazaar and Amazon-backed Acko (which is reportedly raising a massive round) taking the lead alongside Digit Insurance 📰 Economic Times of India
🦄 Bottltech raises $180 million Series A led by Activant Capital to achieve unicorn status. Launched in 2020, Bottltech’s insurance exchange connects insurers, brokers and customers. The platform proceeds $5 billion in premiums, providing a gateway to more than 5,000 products and 150 insurance providers. At this stage, bottltech serves more than 7.7 million customers in 14 markets across 3 continents 📰 Coverager
INSHUR, the NY-based Insurtech, raises $35 million Series B led by Israeli fund JVP. INSHUR is a mobile-first provider of commercial auto insurance for private hire drivers. The app allows drivers to quote, purchase and service their insurance policies at their convenience 📰 Coverager
Pathpoint, the US Insurtech, raises $30 million Series A led by Caffeinated Capital. Pathpoint offers retail agents P&C and professional lines products from 10 top-rated carriers through the company’s online platform 📰 Coverager
Hyperexponential, the London-based mathematical Insurtech, raises $18 million funding round led by Highland Europe. Hyperexponential provides actuaries, data scientists and underwriters with a mathematical modeling software for the commercial insurance sector 📰 TechCrunch
🚀 New products, partnerships, collaborations and more
Akur8 partners with AG2R La Mondiale (15 million customers) to deploy its AI for modeling and underwriting. Akur8 is still on a roll, following its $30 million fund raise. It strongly accelerated in the last few months by signing large customers like Generali, Munich Re, la Matmut, Wakam, AXA Spain 📰 Eficiens (in French!)
Ping An launches new elderly care brand Ping An Zhen Yi Nia. Some news from China’s (and the world’s) largest insurer: Ping An Zhen Yi Nian will combine insurance with access to living in elderly care communities. Ping An Zhen Yi Nian integrates premium nursing, health tech, finance, and insurance services 📰 Coverager
Swiss insurer Baloise Group is considering allowing outside investors help it scale up insurtech FRIDAY in which it holds a majority stake. The announcement came as part of a larger announcement, in which Baloise also revealed its launch in France (more information below) 📰 Finews
Natixis Insurance partners with Zelros in France to leverage the startup’s AI tools to improve customer relations and operational efficiency. Natixis and Zelros have identified 3 use cases to work on in the short term, before tackling the more complex redesigning of Natixis’ customer journeys 📰 La Revue digitale (in French!)
Home 🏡 and car 🚗 insurance news
MAPFRE partners with Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) in Massachusetts to launch MotionSmart℠, a usage-based insurance (UBI) program available to new MAPFRE policyholders in the State. New MAPFRE policyholders who participate in the program will receive a discount of up to 10% at initial enrollment. Based on how safely they drive, they can earn up to 20% savings on their annual premium with MotionSmart. 📰 Coverager
Baloise Group’s Insurtech FRIDAY launches in France with new home insurance product. The French home insurance market starts to be super crowded, with many newcomers entering it to gain market share. Those new Insurtechs include the likes of Luko, which now boasts +150,000 customers, Lemonade, Lovys, Leocare and Acheel. FRIDAY offers customers the flexibility to cancel their policy anytime, simplicity and a digital-first experience for digital natives. 📰 Baloise website
