Happy Holidays. 2019 has been a headline year for InsurTech.
As we look back, 2019 will be marked as the year InsurTech has gone mainstream. 155+ VC investments amounted to $4B raised per Accenture. 4 M&A deals made headlines: AssuranceIQ (by Prudential), Cover Wallet (by Aon), Indio (by Applied), and Fast Technologies (by Verisk). 6 unicorns were born: Wefox, Lemonade, PolicyBazaar, Hippo, Next, and Root.
2019 is the first year of InsurTechNY. Here is a recap of our year and what we learned.
2019 Recap
Summer: Just an idea. The three of us came together with a simple concept. Make a home for InsurTechs in the NYC area. NYC has the most InsurTechs and second most InsurTech investors of any city, but there was no single community to bring people together.
Aug: Investing in InsurTech: Fad or Long-term Value. 3 VCs and an angel investor debated if InsurTech investments were a fad or if they can create long-term value. The verdict: they can and have created long-term value, but Series-A deals are overvalued now. Too many CVCs have moved upstream to Series-A, which is creating a gap for Seed and Series-B deals.
Oct: Customer Engagement and the Future of Distribution. We hosted a panel and two educational talks on the legal environment. We learned startups must be aware of rebating and tying regulatory constraints in distribution, even if they don’t sell insurance. Digital ecosystems are playing an important role in new underwriting methodologies and they are also creating new distribution channels. It has never been more important for insurers to build relationships with InsurTech communities where they can find solutions to fit their needs.
Dec 5th: War Stories Working with InsurTech Startups. We led two panels: a startup panel and a carrier panel. The startups taught us that you must plan extensively ahead of pilot projects and have a checklist on what boxes must be checked to achieve a commercial contract. The carriers taught us that you must have a clear and transparent process for working with startups and dedicate entrepreneurial-minded team members to projects.
Dec 10th: Big Data, Analytics, and Enterprise Privacy. We held a full day of panels and sessions on data and privacy and hosted the NJ assemblyman who sponsored a privacy bill. Almost every citizen has had their personal data hacked at some point from major hacks like Target, Home Depot, Marriott, and First American Title. As a result, almost half of the states are contemplating privacy regulations. The leader, California, has a law going into effect on Jan 1st.
Spring InsurTech Conference
Our next event will be a full-day conference on March 19th. We will have 7 panels, 6 Ted style talks, and 20 startup pitches. Due to limitations on space, we have created a waiting list to hold spots for attendees before we release the tickets. Please sign-up for the waiting list.
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Upcoming NY Area Events
Spring 2020 Conference: Transforming the Buying Experience (Join the Waitlist)
Mar 19 | 8:00 AM – 6:30 PM | 6th Ave. & 23rd St. (Flatiron district)
– Featuring 25+ speakers, 20+ InsurTech Investors, & 20+ Insurtech pitches
– Pitch & Demo competition featuring top 20 startups
InsurTechNY Competition (Opens Jan 6th, Details to come)
Jan 6 – Feb 7 (Available via F6s)
– Tracks for Seed and Growth stage startups
– $300,000 in prizes available to winners
InsurTech American Coalition (Conf. Call)
Jan 8 | 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM EST
– United voice for regulatory & legal concerns by InsurTechs
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Sponsors
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__________________InsurTech New York Area Deals and Opportunities
A curated mix of December insurance financings, exits, partnerships, and opportunities in the New York area.
Sproutt ($12M Raised, Guardian): Life Lines. Insurance broker that uses AI to match people with life insurance providers.
Sunday Insurance ($11M Raised, Quona Capital): P&C Personal Lines. Insurance policy for cyclists that uses machine learning to determine premiums in real-time.