The IPO of Lemonade (LMND) has created a fury of teenage Robinhood traders snapping up the stock. It is thought-provoking how a simple ticker symbol has the power to make InsurTech a household term.

Looking back to when it all began in 2015, the story of how to develop and raise an InsurTech unicorn has the power to move the industry forward.

Did you know that:

~ On average, it has taken (5) funding rounds to become a unicorn. 

~ The oldest InsurTech unicorn is Policy Bazaar, founded in 2008

~ 2015 was the year of the most unicorns founded (4): Hippo, Lemonade, Next, and Root

~ InsurTech unicorns have raised nearly $1B of equity since the onset of the pandemic. 

Curious about the stories behind the InsurTech unicorns? Join us for our joint event with ITC and DIA on “How to Become an InsurTech Unicorn” and hear from the InsurTech founders.

Registration Today (complimentary)

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Last Chance to Apply: InsurTech NY Accelerator Program

Our application window for the accelerator program closes on Monday, August 17th. 

The program is 100% virtual, no-cost, compressed to 12 days (over six weeks), and open to Growth-stage startups (Seed+ to Series B) worldwide. We have 25+ carriers / brokers and 20+ InsurTech-focused VCs / CVCs participating.

We focus on:

1. Partnerships with carriers & brokers – The majority of the program time
2. Talent acquisition – Meet your next hire for hard to find roles 
3. Fundraising – Connect with Series A / B / C Investors

We are especially interested in:

1. Digital distribution for commercial P&C, surety, & specialty lines (e.g., MGAs, MGUs, Brokers)
2. Capabilities to accelerate or automate underwriting
3. Productivity and distribution capabilities agents and wholesale brokers

Apply here or schedule a call with us to learn more about the program here. 

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Upcoming NY Area Events and Programs

Core Systems Evolution – InsurTech and Legacy Integration (save 30% code embedded)

Aug 27 | 1:00 PM – 2:45 PM Content + 2:45 PM – 5:00 PM Networking | Fully Virtual

– 2 Panels, 2 Ted Talks, 8 InsurTech Influencers, Networking Included

– Featuring: CIO of State Auto, CIO of Tokio Marine and CDO of Nationwide

How to Become an InsurTech Unicorn (complimentary)

Sep 17 | 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM ET | Fully Virtual

– Featuring: Assaf Wand, CEO of HIppo

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InsurTech NY Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsors for supporting the community: ClarionDoor, EIS, Guidewire, EY, and Microsoft

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InsurTech New York Area Deals and Opportunities

Discover a curated mix of late July and early August insurance financings, exits, partnerships, and opportunities in the New York area.

CalypsoAI ($13M Raised, Paladin Capital): Multi-Line: a platform to test the performance, reliability, and security of artificial intelligence software.

The Sure Shot Entrepreneur (Podcast Launch): Hear an episode on Gokul Rajaram’s search for founder-market-fit and resourceful entrepreneurs lead to 100+ angel investments.

Primetime Partners (VC Fund Launch): $31M early-stage venture firm focused on investments that are improving the quality of life for older adults and aging.

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Looking for Feedback on this Newsletter

We want to hear from you. What do you like in this newsletter, what don’t you like, and what would you want to see. Simply hit reply or email us at contact@insurtechny.com and tell us your opinion so we can make it better.

Best,

David, Tony, and Brett

InsurTech NY Team

When the cover of Wired Magazine is a story about insurance, you know the industry is changing. The Wired cover story told the tale of Nathan Wolfe, a West African born virologist who built a startup to solve one problem, insurance for pandemics. Nathan partnered with an American broker and German reinsurer to launch his first policy in 2018. There was only one problem:

“As far as I know, nobody bought the policy,” said Nathan in the interview.

Nathan’s story highlights the age-old startup problem of product-market fit. From the InsurTech NY vantage point, we have the opportunity to observe startups in every stage from idea to Pre-IPO and realized that it takes a village to grow a startup from the first customer to profitability.

That is why we decided to launch the first InsurTech-only growth-stage accelerator in NYC. So far, 12 carriers and brokers have joined our program and applications to growth-stage InsurTechs will open late July for our first cohort in October. Stay tuned.

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Spotlight: Core Systems Evolution: InsurTech and Legacy Integration

The first step for any corporation to be ready to work with InsurTechs is getting its core system modernized and ready for integration. The challenge in starting transformation projects is that they are high-risk because most projects are mission-critical and have no redundancy. Insurers cannot do without their policy administration, billing, or claims systems for even a few hours. Learn the stories behind the transformations at State Auto, Nationwide, and Tokio Marine and network with startups that can help your core.

Register on Evenbrite.

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Upcoming NY Area Events and Programs

Overcoming Bias in Insurance

July 15 | 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM ET | Fully Virtual

– Featuring NY DFS Executive Deputy Superintendent of Insurance

Core Systems Evolution – InsurTech and Legacy Integration

Aug 27 | 1:00 PM – 2:45 PM Content + 2:45 PM – 5:00 PM Networking | Fully Virtual

– 2 Panels, 2 Ted Talks, 8 InsurTech Influencers

– Featuring: CIO of State Auto and CIO of Tokio Marine

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InsurTech NY Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsors for supporting the community: EIS, clariondoor, Guidewire, and BobTrak.

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InsurTech New York Area Deals and Opportunities

A curated mix of May and June insurance financings, exits, partnerships, and opportunities in the New York area.

Wired Magazine Cover: We Can Protect the Economy from Pandemics. Why Didn’t We?

Oscar Health ($225M Raised, Alphabet): Health Lines: Direct-to-consumer health insurer

Spruce ($29M Raised, Scale Venture Partners): Title Lines: Online title and closing platform for mortgage lenders and real estate investors.

Clara Insurance ($5.5M Raised, Two Sigma Ventures): Benefits Lines: Supplemental health benefits platform with integrated claims technology.

Pie Insurance ($127M Raised, Gallatin Point Capital): Workers Comp Lines: Digital MGA providing workers compensation insurance to SMBs

Clyde ($14M Raised, Spark Capital): Personal Lines: Extended warranty platform for eCommerce businesses to increase order value

Hyperscience ($60M Raised, Bessemer Ventures): Multi-Line: Automation solution built to streamline enterprise processes and eliminate data entry.

Planck ($16M Raised, Team8 Capital): Commercial P&C Lines: AI-based data platform for insurance underwriting.

Axio Global (Undisclosed Raise, IA Capital): Cyber Lines: Risk management platform to help organizations understand cybersecurity exposure and make data-driven decisions.

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Want to mentor growth-stage startups?

InsurTech NY is currently seeking experienced insurance leaders and successful InsurTech founders to join the mentorship component of our accelerator. If you are interested, please send a note to contact@insurtechny.com.

Best,

David, Tony, and Brett

InsurTech NY Team

Second-quarter marked a historic shift in society. The price of data exceeded the price of oil. Oil futures contracts went negative on April 20th while the Nasdaq broke even for the year on May 8th.

This shift has manifested as an ever-present stream of talking points on national news. The media, which typically is stylized as narrative, now begins stories with data points like the number of new infections, the number of unemployed, and the ten-year treasury rate. 

In a world where data is the new currency, insurers need to have a plan to harness the data they already have, to augment their data from third parties, and to apply powerful analytics tools for prediction. To help guide you with your plan, InsurTech NY is hosting a virtual event on May 21st covering how insurers can use data and analytics to improve underwriting and claims. See the full details below.

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Upcoming NY Area Events and Programs

Data and Analytics for Better Claims and Underwriting (1/3 Off Tickets)

May 21 | 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM Content + 12PM – 6PM Networking | Fully Virtual

– 2 Panels, 2 Ted Talks, 8 InsurTech Influencers

– Featuring: Chief Actuary at PartnerRe and Digital Economy Practice Leader at Aon

Risk Management in the Age of COVID (1/3 Off Tickets)

May 13 | 1:00 PM – 3:35 PM | Fully Virtual

– 3 Panels, 2 Ted Talks

– Network with more than 120 senior risk managers already registered

InsurTech Hartford Innovation Challenge

Applications close May 15 | Challenges for InsurTech, cyber risk, and self-service

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InsurTech NY Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsors for supporting the community: evolvor, clariondoor, Guidewire, and e2Value.

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InsurTech New York Area Deals and Opportunities

A curated mix of late Apr and May insurance financings, exits, partnerships, and opportunities in the New York area.

White Ops (Undisclosed Raise, Goldman Sachs): Multi-line: Bot mitigation and fraud protection to protect web-based platforms.

Nexar ($52M Raised, Corner Ventures): Multi-line: Computer vision-based software company building a safe-driving network.

Covered by SAGE ($6M Raised, NFX): P&C Lines: Agency platform that provides quoting, analytics, pipeline management, and a CRM system. 

Biohacking Congress (Apply to Present): Applications open for 10 min startup pitches to VCs interested in HealthTech.

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Join the Conversation on Social

Join us in between newsletters on social media.

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/insurtechny

Twitter: twitter.com/InsurTechNY

Meetup: meetup.com/insurtechNewYork

Best,

David, Tony, and Brett

InsurTech NY Team

The great transition to working from home has opened up a new world of virtual experiences and virtual etiquette. Demand for tops has outpaced bottoms as dress shirts and sweatpants become a new fashion statement.

However, with all of the changes occurring, the need for human connection remains. Whether you are stuck in a 600 square foot apartment in Manhattan or you were able to escape to your suburban second home with a yard in Connecticut, you still need to keep in contact with your team and look for technology solutions outside your VPN.

At InsurTech NY, we had the opportunity to transition our 500-person Spring Conference to virtual. Making the transition required us to think about every aspect of the experience from the 80+ speakers and judges. This process forced us to go through trial and error quickly. Learn more by reading the Full Virtual Guide

Now that we have made the switch to virtual you will be able to join us every other month for virtual experiences that mirror our late afternoon programs. Our next event will be on Data and Analytics on May 21st.

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Upcoming NY Area Events and Programs

Data and Analytics for Better Claims and Underwriting

May 21 | 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM Content + 12PM – 6PM Networking | 100% Virtual

– 2 Panels, 2 Ted Talks, 8 InsurTech Influencers

– Featuring: Chief Actuary at PartnerRe and Digital Economy Practice Leader at Aon

InsurTech Hartford Innovation Challenge

Apply Now to May 15 | Challenges for InsurTech, cyber risk, and self-service

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Spotlight: Looking to Transition Roles? We are Here to Help.

In turbulent times, it is important to be positioned to transition. InsurTech NY has partnered with Precision Research Group to offer no-cost webinars to help those planning for transition or looking for new roles.

Learn the proprietary secrets of a Fortune 100 recruiter who has helped thousands of candidates deliver compelling messages that accelerate and actualize their career goals. This interactive session will present practical tools and techniques that will help you Network with Confidence by (1)  Identifying your professional value, (2) Communicating your value on a resume, LinkedIn profile and/or in networking and interviewing situations, and (3) Competing and negotiating with confidence. 

Join one of the available sessions at Register via Calendly. Sessions available Apr 30, May 1, and May 5.

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InsurTech NY Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsors for supporting the community: Eversheds Sutherland, clariondoor, Locke Lord, E2Value and EIS Group

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InsurTech New York Area Deals and Opportunities

A curated mix of late Mar and Apr insurance financings, exits, partnerships, and opportunities in the New York area.

InsPro Technologies ($12M Acquisition by Majesco): Life and Annuity Lines. Policy administration and marketing system that supports group and individual business lines.

Hi Marley ($8M Raised, True Ventures) Multi-line. AI-enabled texting platform for the insurance ecosystem.

Bodhala ($10M Raised, Edison Partners) Multi-line: Legal spend management platform built for legal teams to optimize and understand their outside counsel spend

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Find the best qualified InsurTech innovators

Struggling to find the right people to fill your Insurance or InsurTech roles?  We are here to help. If you would like to talk with our team to help you fill open roles, please reach out at contact@insurtechny.com.

Best,

David, Tony, and Brett

InsurTech NY Team

As a long shadow hangs over the global economy, the power of human ingenuity shines brightly. Two forces hang in the balance, the impact of exponential growth and our ability to use technology to solve problems.

Reflections of last week show us what we can do when we work together as a community against a shared challenge. Just one week ago, the number of cases was under 1,000 in the U.S. By the time this is sent, that number will be more than 5,000. As an industry, we have responded quickly with technology:

– Every major carrier shifted its workforce to WFH, representing over 1 million workers

– NY DFS has changed policy to permit sales of Cancel For Any Reason policies

– We continued digitally issuing policies, forecasting risk, and processing claims

At InsurTech NY, we believe in the power of the community. As we faced adversity last week, we knew technology was waiting in the wings to address our challenges and keep us together. Last Thursday, we were set to host an in-person conference with 50+ speakers and over 300 attendees.

Like risk managers, we weighed our options and decided we must switch to our 100% virtual plan. At that moment, we gave birth to the largest completely virtual InsurTech Conference. Thanks to the support of our community, we now have 450 people registered for our Spring InsurTech conference. All speakers, startups, and judges will participate 100% virtually in the same agenda and the same sessions. We will also host virtual 1-on-1 meetings using the Grip app, which will allow attendees to meet in virtual meeting rooms.

Now is your chance to escape the virus. Join us virtually for the InsurTech NY Spring Conference.

Register for the InsurTech NY Annual Conference

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Spotlight: InsurTechNY Competition Finalists

Finalists of our InsurTech competition will present at the InsurTech NY Annual Conference on March 19th. Finalists presenting include:

Early-stage: JAUNTIN, Sigo Insurance, Micruity, Atidot, Agilius, WOOP!, Protosure, AdaptReady, SAIVE, and Kiwi Insure

Growth-stage: Zelros, WeatherCheck, Planckdata, DeadHappy, Pharm3r, Matterport Insurance, INSHUR, Wenalyze, EasySend, and Quick Insured

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Upcoming NY Area Events

Spring 2020 Conference: Transforming the Buying Experience

Mar 19 | 8:00 AM – 6:30 PM | 100% Virtual

– Featuring 40+ speakers, 7 panels, 6 TED-style talks

– Pitch & demo competition featuring top 20 InsurTech startups

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InsurTech NY Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsors for making the March 19 conference possible: Eversheds Sutherland, clariondoor, EY, Two Sigma IQ, Locke Lord, e2value, Vpay, Assurity, BOBTRAK, UK Department for International Trade and Spencer Foundation.

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InsurTech New York Area Deals and Opportunities

A curated mix of Mar insurance financings, exits, partnerships, and opportunities in the New York area.

Instanda ($19.5M Raised, Assembly Capital Partners): Multi-line. No-code customer and policy management platform.

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Do you need help with Virtual Events?

In the last week, we developed a number of processes and systems that could be helpful to carriers, brokers, and event organizers to move to virtual. Happy to help you make the transition. Feel free to contact us at contact@insurtechny.com.

Best,

David, Tony, and Brett

InsurTech NY Team

The insurance industry faces a paradox. It’s an industry made up of 60% women (Property Casualty 360) but only 19% of board seats are held by women.

International Women’s Day (Mar 8) gives us an opportunity to redefine the fabric of our industry. We would like to thank and recognize the women participating as moderators, speakers, judges, and startup finalists in our March 19 Spring Conference for leading the way to a better insurance community. 

You will be able to meet these inspirational women at our Annual Spring Conference on March 19th in New York City. 

If you have not already registered, there are still spots available. 

Register for the InsurTech NY Annual Conference

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Spotlight: InsurTechNY Competition Finalists

Over 200 startups applied to compete in a two-track competition, pitting early and growth-stage companies against each other, for over $300,000 in prizes. Contestants are vying to be the most investable and the best carrier and broker partners respectively. 24 judges across the value chain including NY Life Ventures, CT Innovation, Anthemis, Guardian Life Ventures, Plug and Play, Greenlight Re, and IA Capital voted on the finalists.

The finalists represent an assortment of ventures across the globe:

Early-stage: JAUNTIN, Sigo Insurance, Micruity, Atidot, Agilius, WOOP!, Protosure, AdaptReady, SAIVE, and Kiwi Insure

Growth-stage: Zelros, WeatherCheck, Planckdata, DeadHappy, Pharm3r, Matterport Insurance, INSHUR, Wenalyze, EasySend, and Quick Insured

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Upcoming NY Area Events

Spring 2020 Conference: Transforming the Buying Experience

Mar 19 | 8:00 AM – 6:30 PM | NYC

– Featuring 40+ speakers, 7 panels, 6 TED-style talks

– Pitch & demo competition featuring top 20 InsurTech startups

Transforming Transatlantic Insurance: Pre-Conference Seminar

Mar 18 | 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM | 50 United Nations Plaza (Midtown)

– Speakers from: UK Treasury, Boost Insurance, Lloyds, and Beazley

– Audience limited to 75 seniors execs and founders in the US and UK markets

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Health and Safety Update

We are holding all events as planned. We are taking several precautions to protect our guests from Covid-19 including moving to a larger venue (Capitale) for more space between attendees, providing hand-sanitizer at the event, and boxed lunches. We will also have a livestream and networking app available. 

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InsurTech NY Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsors for making the March 19 conference possible: Eversheds Sutherland, clariondoor, EY, Two Sigma IQ, Guidewire, Locke Lord, e2value, McCarter & English, Rippling, AKUR8, Vpay, Trinet, Brex, Assurity, and Spencer Fund

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InsurTech New York Area Deals and Opportunities

A curated mix of Feb and Early Mar insurance financings, exits, partnerships, and opportunities in the New York area.

Ribbon Health ($10.25M Raised, a16z): Health lines. A platform that uses an API to integrate data on doctors, payers, and costs for an easier workflow. 

Unqork ($51M, Blackrock): Multi-line. A no-code platform for enterprise insurance and financial services.

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Looking for Job Postings / HR Partners

We are planning on launching a job board in partnership with the Spencer Foundation. If you would like your job postings in front of our newsletter subscribers and the pre-screened Spencer Foundation grant recipients please contact us at contact@insurtechny.com.

March 19 represents an important day in U.S. history. On March 19, 1918, the U.S. established time zones (NPR). This agreement represented a step forward in technology and human coordination impacting trains, shipping, and business operations for the better.

As the insurance industry faces a new set of challenges including changing demographics, growing cyber and climate risks, and transforming digital ecosystems, working together is now essential. Answers to burning challenges can no longer be found within your four walls and the answers demand collaboration across the value chain.

To help you face the future ahead, we are bringing together carriers, brokers, InsurTechs, and investors to New York City on March 19th. Here are some highlights:

– Unicorns abound: hear from the author of The Making of Lemonade, Ty Sagalow and the head of marketing at Hippo, Andrea Collins

– Innovation + Creditworthiness = New Rating: listen to a Ted Style talk from Maura McGuigan, director of credit rating criteria, on the way innovation is impacting rating

– The top 10%: watch the top 10 percent InsurTech startups pitch and demo their new platforms and technologies

– Masters of intrapreneurial insurance: find out how Iptiq by SwissRe, Traverse by Travelers, and Spire from Nationwide came into existence

– Hot topics addressed: learn about selling insurance to millennials, the race to 10 mins to quote & bind, new business models in the gig economy, emerging technologies, and updating your core system
Take action and be part of the new standard of insurance collaboration.

Register for the InsurTech NY Annual Conference.

Don’t wait, as price goes up by 40% next week on March 2nd.

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Spotlight from NY Dept of Financial Services (Project Whitehall)

Are you an InsurTech founder/leader looking for answers to regulatory questions in the NY state? If so, look no further. NY DFS is launching a new pilot program that will allow InsurTech founders to seek guidance on NY state regulatory questions. NY DFS is mainly looking to support InsurTechs focused on consumer and small business markets, particularly those left out or underserved by traditional options. Learn more at DFS Project Whitehall

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Spencer Foundation Day

The Board of Directors of the Spencer Educational Foundation has pronounced Feb 24th as Spencer Day. The purpose of Spencer Day is to showcase Spencer scholarship recipients, the companies who hire them, and the myriad ways that Spencer supports industry education. Learn more at Spencer Day.

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Upcoming NY Area Events

Spring 2020 Conference: Transforming the Buying Experience (Prices go up 3/2)
Mar 19 | 8:00 AM – 6:30 PM | NYC
– Featuring 40+ speakers, 7 panels, 6 TED-style talks
– Pitch & demo competition featuring top 20 InsurTech startups

Transforming Transatlantic Insurance: Pre-Conference Seminar
Mar 18 | 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM | 50 United Nations Plaza (Midtown)
– Speakers from: UK Treasury, Boost Insurance, Lloyds, and Beazley
– Audience limited to 75 seniors execs and founders in the US and UK markets

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InsurTech NY Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsors for making this conference possible: Eversheds Sutherland, clariondoor, EY, Two Sigma IQ, Guidewire, Locke Lord, e2value, McCarter & English, Rippling, AKUR8, Vlocity, Vpay

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InsurTech New York Area Deals and Opportunities

A curated mix of Feb insurance financings, exits, partnerships, and opportunities in the New York area.

Inshur (News): Inshur partnered with Drivers Benefits to provide rideshare drivers with eye exams, access to telemedicine, and safety and wellness classes

Blackboard Insurance (News): Blackboard Insurance announced the approval of its commercial insurance in Virginia, bringing it to a total of 47 states

Timezone Story from Above (NPR Planet Money Podcast): www.npr.org/2019/06/07/730727038/episode-918-the-day-of-two-noons

Being an InsurTech is a lonely proposition. In the FinTech world, you are considered an outsider. In the legacy insurance world, you are out on the bleeding edge of new ideas. Among other InsurTechs you are often doing something very different. For example, a P&C claims platform has little in common with digital MGA in life.

Faced with the challenge of bringing the community together, we decided late last year to create a competition. Whether it is the Superbowl, the Olympics, or pickup basketball in the park, competition brings people together. From Jan 7 to Feb 7, we accepted applications for a two-track InsurTech competition and were amazed by the results. Here are some quick highlights:

– 209 Applicants
– 30 Countries Represented (Top Int’l: 9 Canada, 8 UK, 7 Israel, 5 India)
– 47 New York Applicants
– Popular Focus Areas: Digital MGA, Claims Automation, AI, & Tools for Brokers

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Watch the Finalists

Currently, judges are reviewing the applications to select the top 10 early-stage and top 10 growth-stage companies. These 20 companies will present at our Spring Conference on March 19th and will be judged by investors from 24 investment firms and CVCs. Judges will select the top three in each track at the conference.

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Learn more about UK InsurTechs

InsurTechs will be selected from across the pond to participate in our invite-only event with the UK Department for International Trade on Mar 18th. Info to request an invite below.
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Upcoming NY Area Events

Spring 2020 Conference: Transforming the Buying Experience (Save 15% for Newsletter subscribers)
Mar 19 | 8:00 AM – 6:30 PM | NYC
– Featuring 40+ speakers, 7 panels, 6 TED-style talks
– Pitch & demo competition featuring top 20 InsurTech startups

Transforming Transatlantic Insurance: Pre-Conference Seminar (Request an Invite)
Mar 18 | 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM | 50 United Nations Plaza (Midtown)
– Speakers from: Lloyds, Beazley, UK Treasury, Boost Insurance, and more…
– Audience limited to 75 seniors execs and founders in the US and UK markets

InsurTech Webinar: Digitizing Property Risk Management (Free)
Feb 18 | 2:00 PM – 2:30 PM | Online
– Speakers from Private Equity Cos. representing $1B+ in property risk
– Learn how InsurTechs are improving commercial real estate risk

InsurTech Hartford Pitch Night V
Feb 25 | 5:30 PM – 9:00 PM | 20 Church St, Hartford, CT
– Startup showcase of Hartford area InsurTechs

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Sponsors

Eversheds Sutherland, Clariondoor, EY, Two Sigma IQ, Guidewire, Locke Lord, e2Value, McCarter & English, and Rippling

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InsurTech New York Area Deals and Opportunities

A curated mix of Jan and early Feb insurance financings, exits, partnerships, and opportunities in the New York area.

Policy Genius ($100M Raised, KKR): Personal lines. Online insurance marketplace.

Boost Insurance ($14M, Coatue & Greycroft): Multi-line. Infrastructure-as-a-service platform designed for the insurance industry.

Covera health ($23.5M Raised, Insight Partners): Health lines. Platform to reduce misdiagnoses for employers and payers.

WTW InsurTech Briefing: 2019 InsurTech investment reaches an all-time high totaling $6.37 billion.

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Looking for Graphic Design Volunteer

We are looking for a volunteer than can help us with graphic design and create infographics
If you are interested, please contact us at contact@insurtechny.com.

Welcome to 2020.

The new year is a great time for self-reflection and goal setting. It is in the new year, we are most apt to try new things. In that spirit, InsurTechNY launched its startup competition. Our goal is to draw the same competitive energy from personal goals into startup goals for a worldwide InsurTech competition. InsurTechs of any stage can participate (later stage startups demo instead of pitching).

The competition features all-star judges. Our judges represent the entire insurance value-chain and made over 50% of U.S. InsurTech investments last year. Judges will determine the top 20 startups to present at the InsurTechNY Spring Conference and select who wins the pool of $300,000 in value.

2020 Outlook

We will continue our regular cadence of bi-monthly events. We will kick off the year with a full-day conference on March 19 about the changing buying experience. The conference will discuss trends in insurance buying like the gig economy, demographics, and new customer expectations.

After March, we will continue our bi-monthly events covering topics including data & analytics, working with CVCs, core systems evolution, emerging technologies, and FinTech vs. InsurTech.
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Upcoming NY Area Events

Spring 2020 Conference: Transforming the Buying Experience (Pre-register for discount)
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

InsurTech Startup Competition (Apply by Feb 7th)
– Tracks for early and growth-stage startups
– $300,000 in prizes available to winners

InsurTech Hartford Pitch Night V
Feb 25 | 5:30 PM – 9:00 PM | 20 Church St, Hartford, CT
– Startup showcase of Hartford area InsurTechs

St. Josephs University InsurTech Symposium
Jan 30 | 1:00 PM – 5:30 PM | 5600 City Ave, Philadelphia, PA

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Sponsors
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InsurTech New York Area Deals and Opportunities

A curated mix of late Dec and early Jan insurance financings, exits, partnerships, and opportunities in the New York area.

Pawlicy Advisor ($1M Raised, Defy Partners): Pet insurance. Provider of pet insurance comparison services.

Zipari ($22.5, Vertical Venture Partners): Health insurance. Consumer experience platform built specifically for health insurance.

Corvus Insurance ($31M Raised, Hudson Structured): Cyber lines. InsurTech that offers artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced cyber insurance policies.

Insurify ($23M raised, MTech Capital): Person lines. Digital auto insurance comparison agency.

GIA Cohort 2020 (8 Startups): Launched on Jan 14 and includes two New York area startups, Kiwi Insurance and Gerald Tech.

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Follow InsurTechNY

We plan to be more active on social media in 2020. Please follow us on:
Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/insurtechny
Twitter: twitter.com/InsurTechNY
Meetup: meetup.com/insurtechNewYork

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.

Join the Waitlist

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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.