Last Week in InsurTech #5

Albert Knuth
Sep 3, 2018 · 3 min read

Softbank at it again, this time with a $100m investment in the Chinese insurance sector. Germany is once again unsure about that whole digital thing: insurer Gothaer is setting up an insurance incubator, but at the same time 1/3rd of German doctors refuse to tie into the state-run digital health system. Oh my…more below.


Companies covered: Gothaer, GDV, Zurich, Softbank, ZhongAn

Topics: insurance incubator, health insurance, insurtech startup competition, insurtech funding

Venture Radar

ZhongAn (CHN): $100m. Chinese digital insurer. Investor (s): Softbank (lead). → source

News

German insurer Gothaer getting into the InsurTech game

German insurer Gothaer has announced the setup of an in-house insurtech incubator, which will be housed at Insurlab Germany in Cologne. The new entity — Gothaer Digital GmbH — will be led by Gothaer’s Emanuel Issagholian, who is also responsible for digitisation and data management at the company, Sören Heinzmann. Gothaer is thereby joining the ranks of incumbent insurers who are setting up separate structures to serve as tech incubators, free of legacy IT systems and open to experiment with new ideas and technologies.

28% of German doctors reject state-run telematic health system

According to a poll by the German Association of Insurers (GDV), 28% of German doctors are not willing to connect to the new state telematic infrastructure, which is supposed to replace the current outdated system by year end. Even though a failure to join the system can result in financial penalties, the doctors voice concern about the systems’ conformity with the European General Data Protection Regulation and doubt that the system is currently functioning properly. The strategy for the 28% is questions is to hold out and wait how things will turn out in the near future.

Zurich insurance kicks off InsurTech startup competition

Insurance Journal reports that the insurer “launched what it is calling the Zurich Innovation World Championship, billing it as a global competition where the winners gain the chance to use their products for Zurich customers in selected countries.” The application deadline is Sept. 30, 2018 and the final competition rounds will be held next year in February.

SoftBank to invest $100m in Chinese insurtech JV

Japanese multinational SoftBank, one of the most active fintech and insurtech investors, has announced a $100m investment in a joint venture with Chinese digital insurer ZhongAn Online, according to Reuters. The investment is part of the banks Vision Fund, which “will own 51 percent of the venture that aims to sell the Chinese firm’s technology to financial and healthcare firms in Asia-Pacific.”

July ‘18 InsurTech funding stats by Medici

Medici just published a month-end summary of funding activity within the InsurTech space, reporting that “the segment that held the second place in the funding race (…) which saw $596m raised across 39 funding deals.”

Source: Medici Research (www.gomedici.com)

7 examples of how InsurTechs are transforming insurance underwriting

Fresh from the Accenture insurance blog comes a list of insurance incumbents who are “working to develop digital underwriting solutions” and have managed to provide “intelligent and creative solutions.” The examples includes: Friendsurance, TrueMotion, Habit Analytics, Goji, StrongArm Tech, Guevara and Open Data Nation.


Upcoming Events

Conferences

04/09 — Internet of Insurance (London, more info here)

10/09– InsurTech Rising Europe (London; more info here)


Dear reader, If I missed anything interesting, please let me know!

info@connectingthedots.cx

Twitter: @cngthedots

I read every message.

Talk soon,

Albert

Connecting The Dots

Albert Knuth

Written by

Writing about the intersection between technology, insurance and regulation.

Connecting The Dots

Making sense of the intersection between regulation, insurance and technology.

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