Top 100 Insurtech Firms 2019 - Spotlights

insurtech spotlights

As the Insurtech 100 publishes, Post caught up with some of the firms listed across Europe, USA and Asia to reflect on the past 12 months, the future, favourite apps and food

1 We Sure 

Staff numbers as of 1 February 2019: 350

List of senior members of the team: Alan Lau, chairman and CEO; Bruce Hsieh, chief operating officer; Jackie Yang, vice-president of technology; Wings, VP product 

Where do you operate? China

Q&A Alan Lau

What has been the most important development/s for your business over the past 12 months? In We Sure’s first 12 months of operation, we saw 20 million monthly active users visiting our site, ranking us number one among insurance We Chat mini programs. One-third of our insurance is sold via friend’s referral, made possible by We Chat’s social network, and users’ trust in our service.

What technology development [insurance or non-insurance] has excited you most over the past 12 months? Seeing the power of artificial intelligence at work in the insurance context has excited ourselves and our insurer partners. Our health insurance loss ratio is less than half that of industry average. This allows us to create more competitive products and offer protection to more people in need.

What can we expect in terms of new developments from your business in 2019? Rather than simply being a ‘payer’, we are integrating medical services and cancer drug access to provide support to users in need that goes beyond monetary compensation. The application of AI and biometrics also make underwriting more fun and intuitive; this year We Sure will double-down on our health reward program, where users track and follow a healthy lifestyle. In return, users get rewards ranging from insurance discount to gym membership.

What is your present favourite app? We Chat

4 Shift Technology

Staff numbers as of 1 February 2019: 200

List of senior members of the team: Jeremy Jawish, co-founder and CEO; Eric Sibony, co-founder and chief scientific officer; David Durrleman, co-founder and chief technology officer

Where do you operate: Shift has offices in France, the US, Japan, Singapore, UK, Hong Kong, Switzerland, and Spain. We are working with insurers in more than 25 different countries across Europe, Asia, the Americas and Africa

Q&A Jeremy Jawish

What has been the most important development/s for your business over the past 12 months? We had a tremendous 2018 and are beginning 2019 with a lot of momentum. We doubled the size of our team. Opened our US headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. And perhaps the most exciting development is that we recently announced a $60m C Round funding event. 

What can we expect in terms of new developments from your business in 2019? We’ve quite effectively shown how artificial intelligence and advanced data science can improve efficiency in the fraud detection process. In 2019, we’ll continue to develop new capabilities in this area. We’ll also be continuing development of technology that applies AI and data science to the claims automation process and exploring how AI can impact other aspects of the entire policy life cycle – from underwriting to renewal. 

5 Lemonade

Staff numbers as of 1 February 2019: 130

List of senior members of the team: Daniel Schreiber, CEO and co-founder; Shai Wininger, COO and co-founder; John Peters, chief underwriting officer; Jorge Espinel, chief business development officer; Tim Bixby, chief financial officer

Where do you operate: US

Q&A Daniel Schreiber

What has been the most important development/s for your business over the past 12 months? Lemonade went from being available in eight US states to 23 – available for the majority of the population. This growth was significant in our sales as well, going from $10m at the end of 2017 to $57m (about 500% improvement) at the end of 2018. From the end of 2017 to the end of 2018, we went from insuring 100 000 to 425 000 homes, covering just shy of $50bn in total insured value.

Less than a year from our initial launch in New York, we became the number one renter’s insurance choice among first time renters state-wide, capturing just over 1% market share. Now, less than two years later, we’re over 6%.

What technology development [insurance or non-insurance] has excited you most over the past 12 months? As a tech company doing insurance, there are new things being built at Lemonade every day. In fact, we push changes to our product four times a day on average. But one tech development that was especially unique last year was Project Watchtower - we call it our new eye in the sky. 

Watchtower uses machine learning to analyse signals coming from orbiting satellites to detect catastrophic events around the globe. We hooked our in-house bot, Cooper, to a raw data feed coming from NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer. Cooper analyses each pixel, looking for fire outbursts, based on colours and heat signatures. In 2018, catastrophes such as the California wildfires appeared on our screens.

What can we expect in terms of new developments from your business in 2019? 2019 will be the year Lemonade goes global, launching first in Europe.

7 Next Insurance

Staff numbers as of 1 February 2019: 100

List of senior members of the team: Guy Goldstein, CEO and co-founder; Alon Huri, CTO and co-founder; Nissim Tapiro, VP of research and development and co-founder; Sofya Pogreb, COO; Michelle Cheung, CFO

Q&A Guy Goldstein

What has been the most important development/s for your business over the past 12 months? Our most significant achievement is that our written premium run rate reached $44m. We also became a national carrier across 15 states; rolled out major new product offerings including general contractor coverage and commercial automotive insurance; expanded the number and variety of classes of business we serve to a wider array of small business; and enhanced our online portal by providing customers instantaneous certificates of insurance in the form of our Live Certificate offering. 

What technology development [insurance or non-insurance] has excited you most over the past 12 months? I’m excited about new developments in biotechnology and gene editing. They have huge potential for the future of our world and our ability to live better, healthier and longer lives.

What can we expect in terms of new developments from your business in 2019? Ultimately, we aim to be the one-stop-shop for every small business’s insurance needs, so making sure that we offer critical coverage options to an ever-expanding set of classes of business is our continuous mission. Thus far, we’ve been able to gain an industry reputation as a leading provider of insurance that is simple, affordable, and tailored to businesses’ unique needs, and we’re looking to build upon our strong track record in the coming year.

What is your present favourite app? Square Cash. Square perfected the task of sending money to a friend with the minimum amounts of clicks and with a beautiful and intuitive user interface. 

If your business was a sports team/sports person, who would it be and why? Legendary free climber Tommy Caldwell. Tommy was the first to ever climb the Dawn Wall of El Capitan in Yosemite, California. It took him six years to learn every aspect of the wall, combined with ongoing and difficult training. Caldwell’s amazing climb represents professionalism, grit and perfection at its best. 

What is your food heaven? I love the excitement of a phenomenal tasting menu. You never know what the chef is preparing and get to experience new tastes. 

11 Nauto

Staff numbers as of 1 February 2019: 150

List of senior members of the team: Stefan Heck, founder & CEO; Jennifer Haroon, COO; Ruslan Belkin, CTO; Phil Connoly, CFO; Sanket Akerkar, senior vice-president of fleets and insurance 

Where do you operate: US, Japan and Europe

Q&A Frank Bunte, head of Europe

What has been the most important development/s for your business over the past 12 months? To start, we’ve been focusing on the problem of distracted driving as we believe it is correlated with collisions. 

To tackle the problem, in May 2017, we rolled out Nauto Coach, our proprietary AI-powered intelligent driver safety system that identifies and captures safety events such as distracted driving and shares those events with fleet managers. 

From there, we wanted to further reduce driver distraction and help improve driver behavior in real-time, without requiring fleet or safety manager intervention. So last summer, we introduced our second offering, Nauto Prevent, which provides real-time alerts in cabin when distracted driving is detected. 

What technology development [insurance or non-insurance] has excited you most over the past 12 months? The buzz these days is around autonomous driving and new mobility, however, I am personally a big believer of AI in education and agriculture, which are critical to the support and sustainability of our massive world population growth. 

If your business was a sports team/sports person, who would it be and why? Tennis player Roger Federer, for three reasons. First, our drive to contribute with something that goes beyond ourselves; striving for something bigger than fame or money. Second, the will to go the extra mile and strive for excellence. And finally the drive to strive together with others, not against.

23 Tractable

Staff numbers as of 1 February 2019: 90

List of senior members of the team: Alex Dalyac, CEO; Razvan Ranca, CTO; Adrien Cohen, CCO

Where do you operate? US, Europe and Japan

Q&A Jan Moehlmann, business development director 

What has been the most important development/s for your business over the past 12 months? Closed $20m Series B funding and rolled out of our AI estimating solution for motor damage in the UK.

What technology development [insurance or non-insurance] has excited you most over the past 12 months? Real time monitoring of food wastes using deep learning and AI. Using the power of AI to reduce waste. 

What can we expect in terms of new developments from your business in 2019? Rolling out our AI solutions for claim automation for property damage.

What is your present favourite app? Kitchen Stories Recipes. My travel revolves around food and this app adds a story to the food. 

24 Simplesurance

Staff numbers as of 1 February 2019: 150

List of senior members of the team: Robin von Hein, CEO and founder; Joachim von Bonin, CFO and co-founder; Dominik Bark, CIO; Victor Ruiz, CTO; Manuel Kester, COO

Where do you operate: 28 countries in Europe and in Japan

Q&A Robin von Hein 

What has been the most important development/s for your business over the past 12 months? In 2018 we had two major funding rounds. We closed our Series C round and increased our total funding amount to $60m. In this round we have won two new investors: Tokio Marine and ODDO BHF, an independent Franco-German financial service group. With the investment and our new strategic partner Tokio Marine and our existing Japanese shareholder Rakuten, we were able to launch our cross-selling business in Japan in October. We have already opened an office in Tokyo and are planning further expansion throughout Asia. 

What technology development [insurance or non-insurance] has excited you most over the past 12 months? I am stunned by the foldable phones at the Mobile World Congress. This innovation will bring us to the next level of using mobile devices and might have a similar impact that once the first iPhone had to the industry. 

What can we expect in terms of new developments from your business in 2019? Our goal for 2019 is to scale Europe and Japan. Also we are starting to look out for expanding our business throughout Asia. 

What is your present favourite app? Revolut, the financial mobile app, is my favorite app. It perfectly supports a global lifestyle.  

If your business was a sports team/sports person, who would it be and why? The Bundesliga football club Eintracht Frankfurt because they are an international team with a strong collective spirit, made up of individual strong players who have proven ambition to build long-lasting careers. 

25 Vlocity

Staff numbers as of 1 February 2019: 700

List of senior members of the team: David Schmaier, CEO; Jeff Amann, COO; Mike Kourey, CFO; Rip Gerber, chief marketing officer; Raja Singh, SVP Products & GM, insurance and financial services

Where do you operate: US, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Benelux, Nordics, Poland, Israel, Japan, Australia, Singapore

Q&A Raja Singh

What has been the most important development/s for your business over the past 12 months? We’ve enhanced our core process functionality in areas such as policy administration and billing so that we can support the end-to-end property and casualty lifecycle. 

27 By Miles

Staff numbers as of 1 February 2019: 17

List of senior members of the team: James Blackham, CEO and co-founder; Callum Rimmer, CTO and co-founder; Matt Wood, head of pricing; Oliver Baxter, head of brand and product; Matt Tortolani, head of development

Where do you operate: UK

Q&A James Blackham

What has been the most important development/s for your business over the past 12 months? As we’re pay-as-you-drive insurance, hitting over two million insured miles was a pretty big milestone for us. With thousands of members now on pay-by-mile policies, this number is rising faster every day. 

What can we expect in terms of new developments from your business in 2019? We currently use a small telematics device called a Miles Tracker to measure mileage, but we’re looking at new ways to get this data from cars directly. 

We’ll also be doing a significant amount of work on an in app claim process, to make it quicker and easier for our members to make a claim if the worst happens. 

Who would be the dream business partners and why? Tesla CEO Elon Musk. He just makes stuff happen. We played around with making pay-by-mile insurance work using the Tesla application programming interface, so if he wants to get in touch, we’d love to partner up to launch that.

31 Digital Fineprint

Staff numbers as of 1 February 2019: 22

List of senior members of the team: Erik Abrahamsson, CEO; Alexander Hammick, COO; Ben Abbott, chief revenue officer; Geth Dunne, chief technology officer

Where do you operate: Based in the UK and operate internationally 

Q&A Erik Abrahamsson

What has been the most important development/s for your business over the past 12 months? We’re now a team of 20 plus people, we’re working with some of the world’s leading insurers (including Hiscox, QBE and Euler Hermes). 

We have also partnered with large technology providers such as Salesforce and DXC Technology, making it possible for our clients to integrate our DFP Risk Atlas into their existing tech stack. We were also named Best Insurtech Supplier by Post recently, which was a huge honour for the whole team.

What technology development [insurance or non-insurance] has excited you most over the past 12 months? I’m a big fan of Space X. The Crew Dragon capsule is an insanely exciting technological achievement, and the Falcon Heavy has the potential to revolutionise access to space. I hope that we can all look forward to get on a spaceflight in our lifetimes. And, hopefully, it won’t be a one way flight.

What can we expect in terms of new developments from your business in 2019? We are signing on more commercial partnerships, and also busy finding new partners in the wider technology ecosystem. We recently received funding from the UK government in the form of the Innovate UK, which we will use to launch a new risk assessment tool for small businesses. I also flew to New York in the first week of April to pitch to investors, customers and partners, so keep an eye out for the ‘DFP enters the US’ announcement. 

What is your present favourite app? I like Work It and use it every time I go to the gym. It’s a fitness app that allows you to track the weights you are lifting and see your improvements over time. 

If your business was a sports team/sports person, who would it be and why? We would probably be in a relay race, since we love running together with other people and want to support them in moving as fast as they can. And since we’re the fastest in the world at what we do, the specific sports person would have to be athlete Usain Bolt.

What is your food heaven/hell? Singaporean food is definitely a food heaven, with diverse and tasty food from all across Asia and the rest of the world But it’s also a food hell, because many dishes are way too spicy for me to eat. So Singapore is simultaneously the best and the worst place for food, in my mind. 

32 Otonomo

Staff numbers as of 1 February 2019: 70

List of senior members of the team: Ben Volkow, CEO; Asaf Weisbrot, chief commercial officer; Lisa Joy Rosner, chief marketing officer; Amir Freud, chief strategy officer/ chief product officer; Sefi Itzkovich, VP architecture & head of data science

Where do you operate: Israel, Europe, US and Japan

Q&A Ben Volkow

What has been the most important development/s for your business over the past 12 months? Internally, we have built a strong leadership team that is bringing my vision to life, and I enjoy working with all of them. Externally, we signed a number of big name original equipment manufacturers (including Daimler) and are putting their data to good use already.

What technology development [insurance or non-insurance] has excited you most over the past 12 months? The most exciting development for Otonomo has been the launch of the Neutral Server. This technology protects consumers and helps OEMs with compliance. 

What can we expect in terms of new developments from your business in 2019? We have lots of surprises in store for 2019, and we are putting even more emphasis on privacy innovations. We are also focusing on the developer community and will be opening up a developer environment.

What is your present favourite app? My favorite app is Freefit, I am very enthusiastic about fitness despite how much I travel.

If your business was a sports team/sports person, who would it be and why? Athlete Michael Jordan, of the 95’ Chicago Bulls. Jordan is a superstar and a true elite athlete. And the Bulls were an exceptional team. Each team member was powerful as an individual and even more unstoppable as a team.

Who would be the dream business partners and why? Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the US Ruth Bader Ginsberg - I simply adore her. I imagine she would be the best partner for anything. Her level of commitment is unmatched, she is a profound critical thinker and she keeps going until she reaches her goals.

36 Cover

Staff numbers as of 1 February 2019: 45

List of senior members of the team: Karn Saroya, CEO and co-founder; Anand Dhillon, CTO and co-founder; Natalie Eva Gray, co-founder and head of product; Ben Aneesh, co-founder 

Places in which you operate: US

Q&A Karn Saroya

What has been the most important development/s for your business over the past 12 months? The most important development for us has been removing our dependency on incumbents and moving in the direction of standing up our own products.

What technology development [insurance or non-insurance] has excited you most over the past 12 months? There are a few different technology elements I’m excited about bringing into our app. We’re reintroducing computer vision, along with natural language processing (for text communication between customers and agents). With our new dialogue flow, we’ll be able to better identify what customers want and direct them appropriately, which is pretty novel in insurance.

Who would be the dream business partners and why? CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffet. Because of his prescient acquisition of Gieco.

38 Neos

Staff numbers as of 1 February 2019: 57

List of senior members of the team: Matt Poll, co-founder and CEO; Michael Postle, CFO; Shane Larkin, CCO; Mike Chowney, CTO

Where do you operate: UK

Q&A Matt Poll

What has been the most important development/s for your business over the past 12 months? Neos announced its overseas expansion into Europe and multinational insurer Aviva acquired a majority share in the company as part of its strategy to develop stronger bonds with customers through digital technology, while providing services that give them the ability to better manage their daily lives.

Neos also launched new products, including the Neos Smart Cam Full HD smart home security camera. The new technology boasts features, including a 1080p, HD live view, two-way audio and 14 days of free cloud storage.

What technology development [insurance or non-insurance] has excited you most over the past 12 months? Artificial synapses; an incredible artificial device which can mimic the function of neurons and synapses responsible for memory in the human brain. 

What can we expect in terms of new developments from your business in 2019? We’ll be announcing some exciting new global partnerships, alongside new Neos smart home devices. 

What is your present favourite app? Obviously, I’m biased, but the Neos app is my favourite. I’m addicted to checking in on my home, particularly to keep an eye on my dogs and to make sure they aren’t tearing the house up. 

If your business was a sports team/sports person, who would it be and why? The England football team – they’re a young, new team with bags of potential (maybe we’ll even win the World Cup).

Who would be the dream business partners and why? Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, everything he touches seems to turn to gold. 

What is your food heaven/hell? Food heaven would have to be a full English fry up. Food hell is Sushi. 

42 Hover

Staff numbers as of 1 February 2019: 250

List of senior members of the team: AJ Altman, CEO and founder; Matt Lewis, VP of growth; Peter Fry, VP of engineering; Derek Halliday, VP of product; Kevin Reilley, executive VP of corporate development and strategy

Where do you operate: US

Q&A AJ Altman

What has been the most important development/s for your business over the past 12 months? In February, Hover announced the launch of Design Pro technology, an interactive experience that gives homeowners the power to visualise exterior home renovations from their desktop or tablet. The intuitive interface allows users to try out different materials and colours on the exterior of their 3D model, create stylistic design elements and accents, and also save a design and come back to multiple versions of their home at any time. 

In the past year, Hover has also announced partnerships with notable insurance companies, most recently Genpact, to help transform the claims process, by drastically reducing the time it takes to send an adjuster to
take measurements and file a property claim. This in turn creates an overall enhanced customer experience for homeowners and allows carriers to process claims up to twice as fast. 

What can we expect in terms of new developments from your business in 2019?

Hover is actively working with several major insurance providers and we will be announcing new partnerships in the coming months. We are also working to involve the homeowner more in resolving claims and underwriting as we bring more and more transparency to these processes.

As a company, we are also looking to expand our engineering team as we continue to develop solutions using our accurate and interactive 3D models to benefit the insurance industry, contractors, and homeowners.

47 Bought By Many

Staff numbers as of 1 February 2019: 88

List of senior members of the team: Steven Mendel, CEO and co-founder; Guy Farley, CTO and co-founder; Oke Eleazu, COO; Luisa Barile, CFO

Where do you operate: UK and will be launching in Sweden this year.

Q&A Steven Mendel

What has been the most important development/s for your business over the past 12 months? Storming into The Sunday Times Tech Track 100 at position 13.

What technology development [insurance or non-insurance] has excited you most over the past 12 months? Full end-to-end online claims.

What can we expect in terms of new developments from your business in 2019?

Launch into Sweden – the first country outside the UK.

What is your present favourite app? Netatmo (home security)

If your business was a sports team/sports person, who would it be and why? Tennis player Andy Murray – a great British export that after many years of planning and learning rose to the top of his game on the international stage (and when he bows out will do so with huge grace and a massive following).

Who would be the dream business partners and why? Mars – as in the confectionary business, not the planet. It understands building for the long-term both for its customers and for its staff. 

What is your food heaven/hell? It is hard to beat a great, home-made, curry. Hell is fast food.

50 Zego

Staff numbers as of 1 February 2019: 68

List of senior members of the team: Sten Saar, CEO and co-founder; Stuart Kelly, CTO and co-founder; Harry Franks, COO and co-founder; Gianluca Uberti, director of growth and operations; Svetlana Novikova, finance director

Where do you operate: UK, Spain, Ireland

Q&A Sten Saar

What has been the most important development/s for your business over the past 12 months? Expanding to two new countries – Spain and Ireland

What technology development [insurance or non-insurance] has excited you most over the past 12 months? Rapid adoption of new financial services offerings by customers, neo-banks and mobility usage.

What can we expect in terms of new developments from your business in 2019? Significantly more new territories and greater product range. Plus lots of other exciting developments in the pipeline.

What is your present favourite app? Drivenow app for car sharing. Also Lime (for bikes), Calm (meditation) and Evernote (for notes).

If your business was a sports team/sports person, who would it be and why? The German football team. No egos and no individuals, it’s all about team overall. They show incredibly high performance across the board.

Who would be the dream business partners and why? Amazon – it’s a truly global business with a strong focus on innovation and challenging the status quo. We would do some amazing things together.

What is your food heaven? Love great porridge made with banana and olive oil. Can’t resist any type of chocolate.

59 Inshur

Staff numbers as of 1 February 2019: 28

List of senior members of the team: Dan Bratshpis, CEO; David Daiches, COO

Where do you operate: USA, UK

Q&A David Daiches

What has been the most important development/s for your business over the past 12 months? Following the success we saw in New York, launching in the UK in November 2018 has been a huge highlight. Like a band’s second album, a new territory can be a challenge. The UK launch has been a great success, executed very well by the whole team.

What technology development [insurance or non-insurance] has excited you most over the past
12 months?
I love what’s been done with augmented reality at the moment, especially in retail. I’m still searching for a good use case for Insurance.

What can we expect in terms of new developments from your business in 2019?  New product lines and expanding into further new territories.

If your business was a sports team/sports person, who would it be and why?  The Oakland A’s circa 2002. We’ve been flying under people’s radar and we rely heavily on data to make decisions and run the business.

Who would be the dream business partners and why [business or person]? With Munich Re Digital Partners and Uber we already have two dream business partners.

What is your food heaven/hell? Heaven: Beef Wellington Hell: Jellied Eels.

66 Cytora

Staff numbers as of 1 February 2019: 66

List of senior members of the team: Richard Hartley, co-founder and CEO; Aeneas Wiener, co-founder and CTO; Ilan Elson, VP of operations and people; Tom Coward, VP of finance; Arvinder Mangat, general counsel

Where do you operate: UK and Australia

Q&A  Richard Hartley

What has been the most important development/s for your business over the past 12 months? We are building a full stack commercial insurance as a service platform combining data ingestion, risk models, application programming interfaces, and interfaces to deliver automated fair and frictionless insurance for businesses. A core part of what we offer is questionless underwriting where SMEs can buy insurance in seconds, easy as buying a book online. 

What technology development [insurance or non-insurance] has excited you most over the past 12 months? We are excited by API companies that are digitising and simplifying financial products, making them increasingly self-contained and embeddable. For example, instead of visiting a bank branch to get a loan, consumers can now apply for a mortgage via their phone as they search for a home. Similarly, with Cytora, SMEs will be able to buy insurance in seconds as they apply for a business loan. 

What can we expect in terms of new developments from your business in 2019? In 2019 Cytora will continue to build and release APIs that power the underwriting process for our customers. We are focused on re-architecting commercial insurance for the modern economy, delivering products that enable business owners to effortless access the right insurance when they need it.

76 Laka

Staff numbers as of 1 February 2019: 14

List of senior members of the team: Tobias Taupitz, CEO & co-founder; Jens Hartwig, CPO & co-founder; Ben Allen, CTO & co-founder; Zaryl Tan, country manager Malaysia

Where do you operate: UK and Malaysia

Q&A Tobias Taupitz

What has been the most important development/s for your business over the past 12 months? Our growth in the past year has been phenomenal, moving to thousands of customers, settling dozens and dozens of claims and proving that this upside down community-based model resonates with customers. What is more, our customers have saved 65% compared to conventional insurance products. 

What technology development [insurance or non-insurance] has excited you most over the past 12 months? Technology is an enabler, not a solution. As such, we are buying in less into the hype of certain buzzwords and carry on working through sets of data to recognise patterns while applying advanced (behavioural) analytics.

What can we expect in terms of new developments from your business in 2019? Following our successful beta-test in 2018 and growing momentum in our core product, we are very excited to bring the Laka model to new products and communities, and help save customers money while also changing their perception of insurance.

Launching in our first international market, Malaysia, in Q2 2019 will also be thrilling, alongside seeing ways in which we can combine communities across continents. 

Additionally, furthering discussions that we are having with regards to business-to-business and business-to-customer opportunities with insurers and distribution partners in different countries, and widening Laka’s presence geographically. 

What is your present favourite app? Lumosity – An average person spends about two to three hours per day on their phone. Why not spend some of the time training your brain? 

If your business was a sports team/sports person, who would it be and why? During our Startupbootcamp days we were described as the Marvel guys – Spiderman, Superman, Batman – as we would put on a costume and do something different in our spare time. 

Who would be the dream business partners and why? We are fortunate to be supported by some many accomplished entrepreneurs and executives, including Tony Fernandes, the founder of Air Asia. An airline which he built up entirely from scratch. Malaysia in particular and ASEAN in general is such a strong driving force, eager to catch-up to the Western world, that I truly believe Laka can have a real impact in the region. 

What is your food heaven/hell? A Five Guys burger – gloriously delicious with a multitude of calories. That’s what I call Heaven and Hell. 

78 Slice Labs

Staff numbers as of 1 February 2019: 70

List of senior members of the team: Tim Attia, co-founder and CEO; Stuart Baserman, co-founder and CTO; Ernest Hursh, co-founder and head of business development and marketing; Michael Fitzgibbon, VP of insurance services and chief underwriting officer; Philippe Lafreniere, chief growth officer

Where do you operate: US, Canada and UK

Q&A Tim Attia

What has been the most important development/s for your business over the past 12 months? The launch of Slice Labs’ Insurance Cloud Services platform. ICS is part of a paradigm shift in the insurance industry as large carriers around the world have realised the value of offering business-to-business and business-to-customer insurance customers on-demand, pay-as-you-go insurance products. In 2018 we saw major insurers in the US, Canada, and UK leverage ICS and Slice’s hackathon methodology to quickly become digital insurers in a significantly less amount of time than it would take to build an in-house digital insurance solution. One ICS customer even decided to launch an entirely new business unit after 70 plus years to be solely dedicated to building multiple on-demand insurance products.

At the heart of the transformation is a realisation that last century’s customer experiences are not sufficient for the 21st century consumer.

What technology development [insurance or non-insurance] has excited you most over the past 12 months?  The race from billion dollar technology companies, global insurers, and insurtech start-ups to build the future of digital services ecosystems powered by cloud, AI, and other technologies. 

What can we expect in terms of new developments from your business in 2019? Slice expects to see continued momentum with large insurers leveraging ICS

79 Snapsheet

Staff numbers as of 1 February 2019: 500

List of senior members of the team: Brad Weisberg, CEO, co-founder and chairman of the board; Jamie Yoder, president; CJ Przybyl, co-founder and chief strategy officer; Dan Colomb, CTO; Andy Cohen, COO; Sarah Doll, chief people officer

Where do you operate: US, Canada and Ireland

Q&A Brad Weisburg

What has been the most important development/s for your business over the past 12 months? Our most important accomplishments have been the development of our software as well as the international expansion of Snapsheet through an agreement with Zurich. 

Snapsheet’s software as a service platform allows intake of information from various customer channels, including e-mail, text, or a web and mobile app, allowing insurance carriers to better engage customers and process claims more quickly. It also enables them to directly deposit payments into customers’ bank accounts, easing the claims process while providing superior customer engagement and workflow optimisation. 

The software covers motor, property and injury for personal and commercial claims, and incorporates automation derived from data collected from one million plus processed claims across 70 plus blue-chip carriers and non-traditional innovators. Snapsheet has already processed more than $2.5bn worth of claims in the US through our software platform. 

What technology development [insurance or non-insurance] has excited you most over the past 12 months? We’re entering a whole new realm of insurance where data is driving a dialogue between humans and machines. New technology is enabling insurers to scale the models they’re already built around, and move from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach to their customers. Enter the bionic organisation. These organisations are truly fascinating, as they happily marry the efficiencies of technology with the innovation and intelligence of humans. Along these lines, I’ve found myself reading more on the evolution of robotics. Whether it’s the medical field or the insurance industry, the future seems endless with possibilities. 

What can we expect in terms of new developments from your business in 2019? We will be putting an even greater focus on enabling the industry to process claims virtually – more efficiently, more cohesively and more effectively. To accomplish this, we are increasing automation for our own firm and then will be commercialising and licensing these innovations within the market. We see the future of companies heavily relying on automation and turning into bionic companies.

80 Buzzvault

Staff numbers as of 1 February 2019: 50

List of senior members of the team: Becky Downing, founder and CEO, Buzz Group; Darius Medora, managing director, Buzzvault Insurance; Roelien Ruys, chief strategy officer, Buzz Group; Roderick McKeown, COO, Buzz Group

Where do you operate: UK 

Q&A Becky Downing

What has been the most important development/s for your business over the past 12 months? The most important development for our business has certainly been the launch last December of Vault: our home insurance cover based on an exact record of what customers own.

What technology development [insurance or non-insurance] has excited you most over the past 12 months? One thing we’ve begun work on is object recognition technology. 

What can we expect in terms of new developments from your business in 2019? We’re looking to grow the number of vault users as much as we can and continue the revolution we’re leading in home insurance.

What is your present favourite app? Currently, I’m a big fan of Monzo. I love the transparency and data-driven insights it gives me over my budgeting, spending patterns. 

If your business was a sports team/sports person, who would it be and why? Rhonda Rousey (ex-UFC fighter), because she’s a self-made woman who became a professional fighter at a time the UFC didn’t allow females to fight under them (hence Rhonda inspired a woman’s division), and because she embraces fear rather than running from it: “I’m scared all the time. You have to have fear in order to have courage. I’m a courageous person because I’m a scared person.”

Who would be the dream business partners and why? If I had a choice of who to go into business with I would do so with Elon Musk, because, love him or hate him, there is no denying that Elon Musk is one of the greatest minds alive on our planet.

97 Quantemplate

Staff numbers as of 1 February 2019: 25

List of senior members of the team: David Lundgren, CEO; Andre Brantom, CTO; Graham Chesney, head of sales, Europe, Middle East and Africa; Scott Quiana, head of sales, US; Iain Davie, head of solutions, architecture

Where do you operate: UK, Europe and North America

Q&A David Lundgren

What has been the most important development/s for your business over the past 12 months? Growing our customer base in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, US, and Bermuda as we continue to prove our value proposition in business workflows.

What technology development [insurance or non-insurance] has excited you most over the past 12 months? We’re seeing many interesting developments, especially in autonomous technologies. The challenge will be productising them in a way which makes sense to users, fits business workflows and respects data governance principles.

What can we expect in terms of new developments from your business in 2019? Considerable team growth that will allow us to tackle more of the data issues at the heart of insurance/reinsurance businesses.

What is your present favourite app? Citymapper - being new to London, this is a must have information source.

If your business was a sports team/sports person, who would it be and why? Duke Basketball: They find the best talent, win as a team, and fashion a culture of sustainable excellence.

Who would be the dream business partners and why? Amazon – Its vision for cloud computing makes it possible for young companies like Quantemplate to compete and disrupt.  

What is your food heaven/hell? Heaven: Pasta and hell: Mushy peas.

96 Tapoly

Staff numbers as of 1 February 2019: 8

List of senior members of the team: Janthana Kaenprakhamroy, CEO and co-founder; Sam Hopkins, CTO and co-founder; Nadezhda Robinson, head of marketing; Malika Shermatova, head of PR; Lee Rawlings, head of sales

Where do you operate: UK

Q&A Janthana Kaenprakhamroy

What has been the most important development/s for your business over the past 12 months? We can now deliver a full stack of commercial insurance products on demand for freelancers, contractors, SMEs and anyone in the gig economy, in a very short space of time. Indeed, our robust and state-of-the-art technology means that our customers can get insurance in just 60 seconds. 

In a very short period of time we have also been able to forge strong relationships with some of the most well-recognised and respected establishments in the industry, such as Beazley, Lloyd’s, BNP Paribas, the British Insurance Brokers’ Association and Arag to name a few. Our list of affinity partners is also growing rapidly, currently standing at over 130. 

What technology development [insurance or non-insurance] has excited you most over the past 12 months? Tapoly has gone from being a digital managing general agent offering insurance products to also providing a sophisticated insurance technology, such as software as a service to industry players. 

Our aim is to empower corporate insurers by enabling them to offer more on-demand products to satisfy an increasing need for these, as well as to enable brokers to obtain on-demand insurance on our platform in 30 seconds. We also offer a white-labelled software solution for insurance providers to transform their existing process to a fully automated and digital platform. 

What can we expect in terms of new developments from your business in 2019? We have been awarded an Innovate UK grant and are focusing on building a cutting edge AI platform which will transform our offering/proposition significantly in the next twelve months. For example, we are developing an advisory bot which will be able to speak to our customers directly.

What is your present favourite app? As a founder of a business that has key elements such as efficiency, speed and cost as part of its DNA, it is not a surprise that the list of my favourite apps includes those associated with these elements. For example, Citymapper and Skyscanner.

I also like Vivino which lets you scan a bottle of wine to find the best price for it and see how it rates. I’m a big fan of good red wine and find this app very useful. 

If your business was a sports team/sports person, who would it be and why? I’m not into sports but prefer explorers. I would choose to be Sir Ranulph Fiennes, one of the greatest explorers of all time. I had the privilege to meet him in 2017, when he gave me some very useful tips on how to go about recruiting a team, and I felt that I could have what it takes to be on his excursion, although I may not have passed his fitness test. I also admire his love of breaking boundaries and achieving the impossible. 

Who would be the dream business partners and why? I am extremely lucky to have one already, so there is no need for me to dream. Sharing the same vision, passion and having the faith in your business partner is crucial, but it is very hard to find someone who fits these criteria. I could not have partnered with anyone better than my co-founder [Sam Hopkins] as he is extremely smart and talented at what he does. He is also very supportive of me, but at the same time he respects my decisions. We make a great team.

What is your food heaven/hell? I come from Thailand and I grew up loving spicy food, so papaya salad with lots of chili, grilled chicken and sticky rice is my favourite. I love fruit and vegetables except I don’t like bananas raw and prefer them cooked. I like steamed banana with sticky rice or simply deep fried with ice cream. 

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How Blueprint Two will transform insurance

Post Podcast: Insurance has moved from parchment, to paper, to PDFs in the last few hundred years and Blueprint Two will hopefully help the sector transition towards frictionless processing, according to Rob Myers, operations director of the Lloyd’s Market Association.

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