Southwest Airlines made headlines over the holiday season when they canceled 16,700 flights over a 10-day period. The company initially blamed it on weather from the polar vortex. But word got out that the real cause was a computer system outage that snowballed with staff shortages and lost baggage. Total costs are estimated at $825 million to Southwest.

Airlines have a number of parallels to insurers. Both are capital-intensive, manage weather risk, and rely on customer loyalty for profitability.

For airlines, time is of the essence. Every plane must fly full every day to maximize revenue. An empty plane or flight not flown is lost revenue. Similarly, every policy must renew before its expiration date. And, both industries benefit from frequent flyers that stay with their brand for every transaction.

So, if you end up like Southwest and your policy admin or quoting system fails. A lost day is not only lost customers for that day, but lost loyalty. If it can happen to Southwest, it can happen to you. Now is the time, during the quiet period of early January, to look at your systems and do a “Southwest Sanity Check”.

For InsurTech NY, we have our own “Southwest Sanity Check” on innovation. Asking ourselves:

Are we missing any trends?
What technologies will matter for the next 5 to 10 years?
Are there any up-and-coming InsurTechs that we’re overlooking?
To help us answer those questions, we are launching the 2023 early-stage competition. InsurTechs will compete for a pool of $200,000. The competition will be judged by the leading VCs and carriers in the industry.

If you are interested or have friends starting an InsurTech, check out the competition here: http://www.insurtechny.com/competition

Spotlight: CEO and Presidents Panel at InsurTech Spring (March 30)

Thanks to inspiration by the Global Insurance Symposium, we are bringing the CEO and Presidents Panel to NYC. Get a chance to hear from Mike Goldman, President of NFP and Gaurav Vasisht, CEO of NYSIF discuss collaboration across the value chain as a competitive advantage.

The insurance industry is inherently collaborative. Risk takers need distributors and everyone needs reinsurers to manage Cat risk. When the relationships work, there is a seamless experience and policyholders don’t even know who is in the chain. But, when there is friction everyone feels the pain. Policyholders start to question what they can do themselves and relationships break down.

Learn how you can work more effectively with your brokers, carriers, reinsurers, and InsurTech partners. Find out more about this panel and the InsurTech Spring Conference on March 29-30.

https://www.insurtechny.com/insurtech-spring-conference/

Newsletter subscribers can save 5% if you register by Jan 13 with code: “Subscriber113”

Upcoming InsurTech Community Events and Programs

InsurTech Investor & Founders Forum
Jan 30 – Feb 1 | Beaver Creek, CO | 1 Day of Content, 1 Day of Networking
– Investors attend include: Anthemis, Allstate Ventures, AmFam Ventures, FFVC, Munich Re Ventures, QBE Ventures, Sandalphon Capital, and more.

InsurTech Spring Conference: Competing on Collaboration
March 29-30 | NYC (Chelsea – Pier 60)
700+ attendees – Parallel tracks for: Life & Health and Property & Casualty
Speakers include: NFP President, Munich Re Head of Innovation, Palomar CLO, & TIAA CIO
More Info and Join Registration

InsurTech NY Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsors of our InsurTech Spring Conference in NY.

If you are interested in sponsoring a future InsurTech event, send us a note at contact@insurtechny.com.

InsurTech East Coast Deals, Partner Events, and Open Roles

Discover a curated mix of October InsurTech financings, exits, partnerships, opportunities, and partner events on the East Coast.

InsurTech News and Deals

Oyster ($3.6M, New Stack Ventures): P&C: Digital platform offering both direct to consumer and point of sale coverage offerings for personal property.

Get Covered ($6M, RET Ventures): P&C : White labeled platform for rental property owners to ensure and manage coverage while offering additional options to renters.

Enthea ($2M, Tabula Rasa Ventures): Health: Administrator of health riders and single case services for psychedelic healthcare.

Partner Events and Programs

insureNXT Congress and Expo (April 26 & 27)

InsurTech Hartford Symposium (May 2-3)

InsurLab Germany Accelerator (Applications Due Feb 7)

RevTech Labs Class 18 Accelerator (Applications Due Feb 17th)

DFS Exchange – NY Department of Financial Services newly-launched engagement platform to foster the growth of responsible innovation in financial services in New York.

See more information and register via our website: www.insurtechny.com/upcoming-insurtech-conferences

Jobs In Carrier/Broker Innovation and Venture Teams

Employers Ins – Senior Product Manager

Ethos Life – Director, Actuarial

Starr – Internal Management Consultant

Transverse – Program Manager

Verisk – Actuarial Associate

See more information and apply via our blog: https://www.insurtechny.com/jobs

Want to Judge our Early-Stage Startup Competition?

Do you run a VC fund, angel syndicate, or corporate venture unit? If so, we are looking for judges who can review the applications for our early-stage startup competition. Judges are required to register for the event. If you would like to be considered as a judge, please reach out at contact@insurtechny.com.