At times, the purpose of an insurer can be at odds with the purpose of the insurance industry.

Insurers are designed to maximize underwriting profits. To do so they use any legally permissible data source that can give them advantage at selecting the most profitable policyholders. While building a moat around loss ratios and off-loading unprofitable customers is laudable, it misses the big picture.

During the InsurTech NY Oct 21 panel on Building the Right Book of Business for Sustainability, Chris Donahue CUO at Hippo captured the appropriate balance of moving beyond profit:

From our position at Hippo, we take the InsurTech title very seriously, it is two parts, not just one, we are an insurance company and a tech company . . . . our mission is to proactively protect the joy of homeownership. It is often the most valuable asset that any individual or any family has and we take the responsibility seriously. We want to provide homeowners the opportunity to prevent loss and to mitigate loss. To not have the claim in the first place.

As an industry, we have a moral obligation to do more with our data than just let it sit idly in our archives. We have an obligation to use it to make our policyholders safer, healthier, and wealthier. The ultimate purpose of data in insurance is to save and lengthen lives. It is the one thing in our power that will help the industry.

To that end, InsurTech NY has decided to host an event to discuss this topic.

Integrating Data to Save Lives: Wellness, Safety, and ESG
Learn more at: https://integratingdata2021.eventbrite.com

Announcing 2021 Accelerator Cohort

InsurTech NY’s members choose 15 startups to participate in the hybrid virtual and in-person insurance accelerator program. The program will provide resources to help startups with traction, talent, and financing. Founders will work with insurers seeking to provide risk capital to digital MGAs and to pilot new technologies.

Full announcement is available here, Digital Insurance, and Carrier Management. Special thanks to Nathan Golia and Mark Hollmer for publishing our cohort.

Our cohort along with startups from the Israeli InsurTech accelerator will be presenting on our Demo Day on November 16 in NYC. If you are an active investor or carrier looking for startup partners and would like to join, please reach out to contact@insurtechny.com.

Upcoming InsurTech Community Events and Programs

Integrating Data to Save Lives – Wellness, Safety and ESG (Save 25% code: News28)
Nov 16 | 5:30PM – 8:30PM | New York (23rd and 5th Ave) + Virtual
– Featuring: CEO of CGS Health, Innovation Officer of Granage, and COO of Eos Venture Partners

Future of Embedded Insurance
Dec 2 | 5:30PM – 8:30PM PST | San Francisco (50 California St)
-Featuring: CMO of Hippo, CSO of Ethos, and Co-founder of Rhino

Digital First or Customer First – Insurtech NY Spring Conference [Pre-registration list]
Mar 7 | 8:00AM – 6:30PM | New York Marriott Marquis (Broadway)
– Join our pre-registration list to hold your spot

InsurTech NY Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsors for supporting the community: Eversheds Sutherland, ICEYE, Levvel/Endava, Optimity, and Spencer Foundation.

InsurTech New York Area Deals, Opportunities, and Partner Events

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

InsurTech News and Deals

Cover Genius ($72M, Sompo Asia) Multi-line: Insurtech combining embedded insurance at POS for E-commerce transactions across retail, logistics, P&C, and B2B.

Buckle Corp ($60M, Volery Capital Partners) Auto: Auto MGA focused on rideshare and gig delivery drivers covering both business and personal in one plan.

Cover Whale ($15.5M, Ambac Financial) Commercial P&C: Digital MGA focused on commercial trucking and cargo.

Energetic Insurance ($7M, Schneider Electric Ventures) Commercial P&C: Risk management product focused on payment default risk for investments in renewable energy.

InsuRights ($22M, Group 11) Health: Benefits platform that supports beneficiaries with guidance on coverage, providers, and preventative care.

Clyde ($25M, Headline, Vulcan) Warranty: Extended warranty coverage sold at POS for retail.

Partner Events

Networking Meet and Greet with Insurtech Israel (Nov 15): Register for event hosted by InsurTech Hartford here.

Ecosystems and Platforms (Dec 9): Register for event hosted by InsurTech Hartford here.

Volunteer For An Event?

InsurTech NY is looking for volunteers who will receive complimentary access to our upcoming in-person events and networking opportunities in return for helping us with some logistics like registration check-in and ensuring the event runs smoothly. If you are interested, please send us a message at: contact@insurtechny.com.

Since the beginning of the InsurTech wave in 2015, one theme has remained constant: “Distribution is King.”

The first InsurTech Startup Showcase in Silicon Valley at SVIA in 2015 featured Embroker (digital broker), Trov (embedded insurance), and Jumpstart (Earthquake focused MGA). In 2016, InsureTech Connect highlighted Lemonade’s CEO Daniel Schreiber as its keynote speaker.

The distribution thread continued as insurers like AXA, MunichRe, American Family, and SCOR developed labs and Corporate Venture groups to partner with and invest in evolving distribution models. American Family invested in Coverhound’s Series C. SCOR backed many of the rising stars including Branch and States Title. MunichRe incubated Tenzy, an internal project for embedded home insurance. And, AXA XL partnered with Slice to release an on-demand, cloud-based cyber insurance product.

Today, the Hudson Structured InsurTech Index (HPIX), which currently tracks 18 publicly traded InsurTechs, has become a bellwether for established InsurTechs. Of the 18 companies in the Index, 15 are primarily involved in distributing insurance.

To support the trend, InsurTech NY will be hosting an event focused on distribution on Oct 21. Learn about the evolution of distribution through marketplaces, internal innovations, cross-selling, and upgraded workflows. This event will take place in person in NYC and will be live streamed.

Full Event Details: https://distribution2021.eventbrite.com

Spotlight: See Us at InsureTech Connect (ITC)

The largest event in InsurTech is coming up in October. Everyone who is allowed to travel is planning on attending. You can find us at ITC in 2 places.

Innovation Alley – Find InsurTech NY Village in the Expo hall in the middle of Innovation Alley. Stop by and visit our startups who will have expo kiosks: BobTrak, Daylight, Gigaforce, Goose Insurance, OneClick Code, Pinpoint Predictive, Sensely, Stable Insurance, Verikai.

VIP Happy Hour – Join the number one ranked (on Google) ITC Happy Hour co-hosted by Airkit, Appian, Boost Insurance, Daylight, EIS Group, Microsoft, Relay, and Vymo. The Happy Hour will be at the Las Vegas Golf Center and Rockstar Bar. It includes unlimited food, drinks and golf at the range for attendees. You can only attend the event by receiving invites from the co-hosts listed above.

We have a couple remaining spaces for additional co-hosts. If you are interested please reach out to contact@insurtechny.com.

Upcoming InsurTech Community Events and Programs

Building Digital Distribution Channels
Oct 21 | 1:00PM – 6:00PM | New York (335 Madison Ave) + Virtual
– Featuring: CEO of Kin Insurance, CUO of Hippo, CMO of Nassau, and CEO of iptiQ Americas
– 4 High impact panels: Selling via InsurTech Marketplaces, Building Internal InsurTechs, Accelerating DIgital Workflows, and Reaching the Incremental Last Customer

Integrating Data to Save Lives – Wellness, Safety and ESG
Nov 16 | 5:30PM – 8:30PM | New York (23rd and 5th Ave) + Virtual
– Featuring: SwissRe Head of U/W Propositions, Marsh SVP, Casualty Advisor

InsurTech NY Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsors for supporting the community: Advantage Go, Appian, Avanta Ventures, Boost Insurance, Eversheds Sutherland, e2Value, EY, F-Secure, Levvel/Endava, and Locke Lord.

InsurTech New York Area Deals, Opportunities, and Partner Events

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

InsurTech News and Deals

BriteCore ($20M Raised, Warburg Pincus): P&C. Web-based workflow management platform for agents and brokerages.

Sproutt ($26M Raised, MoreTech Ventures): Life Insurance. Wellness-based life insurance platform for fully underwritten products also offering simplified issue, and guaranteed issue life products.

Kalepa ($14M Raised, Inspired Capital and IA Ventures): Commercial Lines. AI based underwriting platform focused on decision support for existing underwriters.

DealerPolicy ($110M, Goldman Sachs): P&C Insurance: Embedded F&I platform providing automobile dealers a unified solution to cross sell additional products during the financing process.

Trustlayer ($15M, Craft Ventures): RPA and AI: Business focused automated verification system for reviewing insurance coverage and licenses.

Blueprint Title ($16M, Forté Ventures): Title Insurance: Native software platform offering streamlined title searching, documentation, underwriting, and policy issue.

Partner Events

Insurtech Pathways: How insurtech can scale into the US market (Sept 28): Register for virtual event hosted by InsurTech Australia here.

InsureTech Connect (Oct 4-6): Save $200 off published tickets, register here.

When four-time Olympic gold medalist, U.S. gymnast Simone Biles pulled out of the ongoing Tokyo Olympics, her decision was met with confusion and dismay.

Why would the best gymnast in the world leave the competition without physical injuries?

It’s because of twisties, a condition well understood by gymnasts and acrobats, but unknown to the public. Twisties is a condition where the body is disconnected from the mind. In a brain with twisties, synchronizations of fine motor movements in the cerebellum become disconnected from the appropriate nerve signals to the spinal cord.

In interviews with NPR and Washington Post, Biles explained the condition, “So I was trying a two-and-a-half [twisting vault], and I ended up doing a one-and-a-half . . . I had no idea where I was in the air … I could have hurt myself.”

Just like Olympians, insurers need to keep their mind (strategic plans) connected with their bodies (core systems). As an insurer moving on a quarterly clock speed, as most public companies do, your core system needs to do the name. The problem is if you have multiple underwriting systems, some with built in 20-year-old home-grown software, it is easy to get organizational twisties.

That’s why InsurTech NY decided to host its next event on the Perennial Core System. Perennial flowers regrow every spring and are designed to endure indefinitely. Likewise, robust core systems must do the same, but continue to evolve to survive through hail, wildfire, and pandemic claims.

Join us virtually on Aug 26 and hear from IT leaders at carriers including CSAA, Copper Point, Everest Re, and Palomar.

Perennial Core Systems Event: Eventbrite

Spotlight: Insurance Corporate Venturing Benchmark

The pace of InsurTech investment is faster than ever. Leading the pack are Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) groups that operate inside or in affiliation with insurers. Insurance CVC funds range in size from $50M to over $500M in investable capital.

Corporate venturing is a recent phenomenon, almost all insurance CVC Groups have formed after 2013. More than 50 insurers have either made a direct off-balance-sheetAn investment or invested through their CVC. The mystery remains, what happens behind the scenes at insurers making startup investments.

To study this trend, we have partnered with Tilburg University in the Netherlands to conduct a benchmark study. The study will be presented at our private Corporate Venture Capital Forum in September. Only those who complete the benchmark survey will be eligible to attend the Forum where we present our findings.

If you are with a carrier or broker that has invested in startups in the last 10 years, please help us by completing the survey or share with an appropriate colleague.

Survey available here: https://cvc2021.paperform.co/

Upcoming InsurTech Community Events and Programs

The Perennial Core System and Claims Automation (15% off, code embedded)
Aug 26 | 1PM – 3PM Edu Content and 3PM – 4PM Networking | Fully Virtual
– Featuring: SVP of Everest Re, CIO of Copper Point, and VP of Claims of Palomar

Building Digital Distribution Channel
Oct 21 | 1:00PM – 6:00PM | New York (23rd and 5th Av) + Virtual
– Featuring: Sean Harper, CEO of Kin Insurance

Integrating Data to Save Lives – Wellness, Safety and Climate
Nov 16 | 5:30PM – 8:30PM | New York (23rd and 5th Av) + Virtual

InsurTech NY Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsors for supporting the community: Avanta Ventures, EY, Britecore, and Levvel.

InsurTech New York Area Deals, Opportunities, and Partner Events

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

InsurTech News and Deals

Lula ($18M, Founders Fund): Auto Insurance: API platform to provide driver risk assessment and manage episodic insurance policies for auto rentals and commercial fleets.

Wagmo ($12.5M, Revolution Ventures): Pet Insurance: Online subscription wellness plan and broker of pet insurance.

Bolttech ($180M, Activant Capital): P&C Insurance: Microservices-based insurance exchange platform to connect carriers to affinity partners.

Akur8 ($30M, MTech Capital): Platform to automate insurance rate making using machine learning minus the block of traditional AI.

Accelerators: InsurTech NY accelerator applications closed on August 2, but our friends at the Global Insurance Accelerator (apply till Sep 12), Brush Creek Partners (apply till Aug 22), and InsurTech Munich Hub (apply till Sep 13) have open applications.

Partner Events

Insurance AI and Innovative Tech USA 2021 (Sep 14-15): Register here for Reuters virtual event here.

InsureTech Connect (Oct 4-6): Save $200 off published tickets, register here.

InsurTech Hartford Symposium (10/26). Tickets are now available for their annual program here.

After 15 months in captivity, carrier and broker offices are trending towards reopening at full capacity. Although air travel is not in full swing yet, the hallmarks of in-person activities are all starting again. Agents are brokers are meeting with clients. Internal meetings are happening in conference rooms that hold more than a few people. And InsurTech conferences are now happening in person.

June 28th marked the first major in-person conference, the Global Insurance Symposium. More than 200 people gathered including insurance commissioners, carrier leaders, and InsurTech founders in Des Moines. But questions remain: will events still have to run hybrid? How many people is too many for events? When will Europe catch up to U.S. vaccination rates?

Seeking to find the right balance, InsurTech NY announced its 2021 accelerator program to run as a hybrid program (3 days in person in NYC, the remaining virtual) in the fourth quarter. Growth-stage startups will have the opportunity to meet 20+ carriers and brokers at the in-person selection day followed by virtual programming to support their business development, talent recruiting, and fundraising activities.

InsurTechs can read about the program and apply at: InsurTech NY Accelerator.
Or join our next information session at: Information session

Spotlight: Core Systems and Claims Automation

On Aug 26th, we will be hosting our next virtual event. Core Systems upgrades and improvements continue to be a major theme for carriers looking to transition their products to a digital world. Moving from legacy systems to SaaS or hybrid cloud platforms can be a make-or-break project for IT departments.

It does not have to be that risky. Learn how carriers using agile methodologies to minimize the risk of core systems transformations and incremental upgrades to breathe new functionality into legacy systems. Beyond the core, sessions will explore how to automate claims using InsurTech solutions and robotic process automation (RPA).

Register at: https://coreandclaims.eventbrite.com/

Upcoming InsurTech Community Events and Programs

The Perennial Core System and Claims Automation (Early-bird tickets available)
Aug 26 | 1PM – 3PM Edu Content and 3PM – 4PM Networking | Fully Virtual
– Featuring: CIO of EverestRe, CIO of Copper Point, and VP of Claims of Palomar

Building Digital Distribution Channel (Early-bird tickets available)
Oct 21 | 5:30PM – 8:30PM | New York + Virtual

Integrating Data to Save Lives – Wellness, Safety and Climate (Early-bird tickets available)
Nov 16 | 5:30PM – 8:30PM | New York + Virtual

InsurTech NY Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsors for supporting the community: Avanta Ventures, Britecore

InsurTech New York Area Deals, Opportunities, and Partner Events

Discover a curated mix of May and June insurance financings, exits, partnerships, opportunities, and partner events on the East Coast.

Partner Events

Insurance AI and Innovative Tech USA 2021 (Sep 14-15): Register here for next Reuters virtual event here.

InsureTech Connect (Oct 4-6): If you have not registered yet, save $200 with our partner discount. Register here.

InsurTech Hartford Symposium (10/26). Pre-register now for discounts before they go live here.

InsurTech Deals

Branch Insurance ($50M, Anthemis Group): Home & Auto Insurance: Operator of insurance platform offering home, car, renter, and umbrella insurance services.

Corvus Insurance ($15M, FinTLV): Commercial: Developer of an AI-driven commercial insurance data platform designed to improve risk selection and management.

Mile Auto ($10M, Ulu Ventures): Auto UBI: Provider of pay-per-mile insurance services intended to offer car insurance for low-mileage drivers based on actual miles driven.

Boost Insurance ($20M, RRE Ventures): Embedded and API: Developer of a digital insurance platform designed to build, embed, and deliver insurance products.

Waffle Labs ($5M, Verve Ventures): Multi-line: Developer of an insurance application designed to provide customizable insurance plans for all products.

Planck ($20M, 3L Capital): Data Analytics: Operator of an AI-based data platform designed to offer real-time insurance-related data analytics insights to insurance providers.

The Colonial Pipeline hack is a reflection of the state of broader American infrastructure. One critical channel has the potential to impact fuel prices and availability for an entire segment of the country.

On a broader scale, the threat to cybersecurity is one the insurance industry should use as a wake-up call. Just in the last 2 years, five major cybersecurity incidents have directly impacted insurers:

CNA – Mar 2021 – Resulted in compromised corporate email
Aetna – Dec 2020 – EyeMed division exposed nearly 500,000 members personal information
Desjardins – Nov 2019 – More than 40% of its clients had persona information leaked
State Farm – Aug 2019 – a credential stuffing attack compromised usernames and passwords
First American Title – May 2019 – 800+ million files were left exposed without authentication

Now is the time to think about how we can build back better our core systems and cyber infrastructure. If you are looking for answers, please join us on August 26th for our Core Systems Event.

Spotlight: InsurTech Investment Summit

On May 20th, we will be hosting the largest gathering of InsurTech focused investors. If you are looking to spot new product and market trends and understand the story behind the growth in InsurTech investment, there is no better time to learn.

Startups looking for investment can join our virtual networking on Remo which will feature Corporate Venture units from Transverse Insurance, Avanta Ventures (CSAA), Aflac, CFMG (Cuna Mutual), Guardian, NFP, Unum, SCOR, QBE, and Liberty Mutual. Venture groups will be available at virtual tables in an Ask Me Anything style of interaction. Plus, free networking will be available with an additional 20+ traditional venture groups attending.

Register at: https://insurtechinvestment2021.eventbrite.com

Upcoming InsurTech Community Events and Programs

InsurTech Innovation Challenge (By InsurTech Hartford)
May 14 (last day to apply) | $27,500 in awards | Limited to startups under $1M in revenue

InsurTech Investment Summit (20% code applied: News)
May 20 | 1PM – 3PM Edu Content and 3PM – 5PM Networking | Fully Virtual
– Featuring: Partner at Avanta Ventures, Principal at MunichRe Ventures, CEO of Transverse

Accessing the Non-Admitted Insurance Market for InsurTech (CLE Credits available)
Jun 9 | 12PM – 1PM Edu Webinar | Fully Virtual

The Perennial Core System and Claims Automation (Early-bird tickets available)
Aug 26 | 1PM – 3PM Edu Content and 3PM – 5PM Networking | Fully Virtual

InsurTech NY Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsors for supporting the community: Avanta Ventures, Locke Lord, Thompson & Prince

InsurTech New York Area Deals, Opportunities, and Partner Events

Discover a curated mix of April and early May insurance financings, exits, partnerships, opportunities, and partner events on the East Coast.

WTW Quarterly InsurTech Briefing: 146 deals announced with over $2.5B in funding. Read the full report here.

InsureTech Connect (Oct 4-6): If you have not registered yet, save $200 with our partner discount. Register here.

Kin Insurance ($64M, HSCM): Home Insurance: Digital platform for homeowners insurance.

Wunderite ($3M, Spark Capital): Commercial P&C: Automated platform for insurance submissions.

Sigo ($1.5M, Amicle Capital): Auto Insurance: Operates a mobile-first auto insurance brokerage focused on the uninsured or underinsured Latinx market.

Arturo ($25M, Atlantic Bridge): Property: Aerial imagery platform and analytics platform for underwriting and CAT risk modeling.

Brella Insurance ($15M, Brewer Lane Ventures): Supplemental Health Benefits: Benefits platform to bridge the deductible gap for more than 13,000 health conditions.

Level ($27M, Lightspeed Ventures): Dental and Vision Benefits: Digital platform to streamline employer-sponsored benefits management of dental and vision benefits.

Gradient AI ($20M, American Family Ventures): Multi-line: Predictive analytics and decision support platform to automate underwriting and claims workflows.

Clearcover ($200M, Eldridge): Auto Insurance: Digital-first auto insurance MGA.

Did you know: NYC is home to 10 insurance Corporate VCs? Here is how that stacks up against other cities with clusters of active insurance corporate venturing groups:

NYC Metro: 10
Paris: 4
San Francisco Bay Area: 4
London: 3
Boston: 3
Columbus: 3

Curious to learn more about the trends in InsurTech investments and how traditional VCs, corporate VCs, and angel investors are picking companies?

Join us for our InsurTech Investment Summit on May 20th.

Find the full details here: https://insurtechinvestment2021.eventbrite.com

Spotlight: InsurTech NY to Host First Private Executive Briefing

On April 20th, InsurTech NY will host a private executive briefing for corporate innovation program members on the State of Digital MGAs jointly with EY. Carrier and broker innovation leaders and executives will discuss trends with digital MGAs and strategies for partnership. Also, seven digital MGAs across P&C and life lines of business will present.

Presenting startups include: Jenny Life, Deadhappy, Agilius, Branch Insurance, Cover Genius, Energetic Insurance, and Fleetr.

Read more about the program (here) or request an invite for our next executive briefing contact@insurtechny.com

Upcoming InsurTech Community Events and Programs

InsurTech Investment Summit (20% code applied: News)
May 20 | 1PM – 3PM Edu Content and 3PM – 5PM Networking | Fully Virtual
– Featuring: Partner at Avanta Ventures, Principal at MunichRe Ventures, CEO of Transverse
– Highlighted CVCs + VCs: Aflac, AXA VP, CFMG, Guardian, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide, QBE, Unum

The Perennial Core System and Claims Automation (Early-bird tickets available)
Aug 26 | 1PM – 3PM Edu Content and 3PM – 5PM Networking | Fully Virtual

Parametric cover and Straight-through Processing (Register here)
Apr 22 | 12PM – 1:30PM | Hosted by InsurTech Hartford

InsurTech NY Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsors for supporting the community: Avanta Ventures, EY, Locke Lord

InsurTech New York Area Deals, Opportunities, and Partner Events

Discover a curated mix of March and early April insurance financings, exits, partnerships, opportunities, and partner events on the East Coast.

InsurTech NY Competition Winners (Press Release): Over 100 early-stage InsurTechs applied from around the world and were judged by 26 investor judges. Four winners were selected, one from each group of judges. Winners are Tide, Loadsure, Delos, and RemitRix.

Vericred ($23M, Aquiline): Health Lines: Platform to connect carriers and employee benefits providers with new technology partners.

Pie Insurance ($118M, Allianz X): Workers Comp Lines: Digital MGA providing workers compensation insurance to SMBs.

Asteya ($10M, I2BF Venture) Income Insurance: Provides financial health and wellbeing by transforming the disability insurance space.

Hi Marley ($25M, Emergence Capital) Multiline: Enables hassle-free texting across the entire ecosystem, empowering insurance professionals and delighting policyholders.

Corvus Insurance ($100M, Insight Partners): Commercial: a leading provider of commercial insurance products built on advanced data science.

RatesDotCA ($51M, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board): Multiline: Rate comparison website that offers a quick and simple digital experience to compare the widest selection of insurance and money products in the market.

Beam Dental ($80M, Mercato Partners): Dental: Digital-first dental benefits provider that incorporates dental hygiene behavior into policy pricing

OnRamp Insurance Conference (May 4, Virtual): Learn more here and save 20% with code “InsurTechNY”

The Future of Insurance USA 2021 (Reuters Events): Registration is now available for the June 22 program, here.

Job Openings and Opportunities

Selected job openings and opportunities in our community.

Associate / Manager at InsurTech NY (AngelList)
Summer Associate at InsurTech NY (AngelList)
Venture Capital – Principal at Nationwide (Nationwide Careers)
Venture Capital Associate at Nationwide (Nationwide Careers)
Venture Capital – Head of Platform Operations at Nationwide (Nationwide Careers)
InsurTech VC Investor – Finance & Insurance at Hudson Structured (LinkedIn and LinkedIn)