InsTech - insurance & innovation with Matthew Grant & Robin Merttens

Robin is joined by Concirrus CEO and Co-founder Andrew Yeoman on Podcast 160 to discuss how commercial insurers are beginning to use algorithms to support underwriting decisions. The conversation covers the findings from the InsTech London report, A Practitioner's Guide: Algorithmic underwriting in commercial and specialty insurance, which examines where industry adoption is right now and what’s n...

Atrium Underwriters has been operating in the London market for almost 100 years and has established itself as one of the most forward-thinking insurers when it comes to innovation and new technology. Underwriters Simon Lewis and Matt Greaves join Matthew on Podcast 159 to discuss where that drive for innovation comes from. The conversation covers how Atrium assesses ideas and products for new opp...

For underwriters, time spent searching for information is time lost to underwriting. Terrene Labs, acquired by FRISS in April 2021, aggregates third-party data sources to help underwriters focus on the core of underwriting rather than the chore of data collection. The acquisition will expand FRISS's range of underwriting insights beyond risk detection analytics. Matthew speaks to Piyush Singh, CEO...

Podcast 158 features the highlights from Part 1 of our first live event back at The Steel Yard in London and is packed with advice for start-ups looking to grow and future founders. Ed Leon Klinger ( Flock ), Oliver Brew ( CyberCube ), Andre Symes ( Genasys Technologies ), and Jonathan Spry ( Envelop Risk ) returned to the InsTech London stage to discuss their experiences of the journey from start...

Health insurers have been on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic. They have had to get to grips with the new peril of the COVID-19 virus, experience changes in demand and plan for the long term while adjusting to lockdowns and home working. Mark Allan, Commercial Director UK Insurance at Bupa, joins Robin to discuss Bupa’s experience during the pandemic in the UK and what lies ahead. Talking p...

Insurance Business Applications (IBA) has established itself as a genuine insurance innovator over the past decade, embracing new technologies to offer a full cycle property and casualty insurance platform in the cloud. Chief Commercial Officer Karina Buch joins Robin to discuss the company's origins and growth so far, why global insurers like Zurich and AIG are choosing to use its IBSuite platfor...

For insurtechs to flourish, companies need to match their innovative technology solutions with market opportunities and an understanding of how the industry works.  Some of the best innovation in recent years has come from combining new technology with deep insurance knowledge and experience, and this week’s podcast guest is a great example. Originally an underwriter, Niall Barton co-founded Wrisk...

When you think of insurance innovation, there is a whole host of exciting start-ups and scale-ups that spring to mind, but this week’s podcast guest has been consistently innovating for the past two decades. Todd Rissel founded e2Value 20 years ago and has built a company that now provides Insurance to Value (ITV) data and products to over 500 clients in the US and Canada. Matthew and Todd discuss...

Whether you are an established company or a new kid on the block, you need to be smart and flexible to make the most of new opportunities and stay ahead of the game. ICE InsureTech is one of the companies that is helping the insurance industry do that, using its experience of building digital policy administration and claims management systems to tackle legacy issues and drive innovation. CEO Andr...

There has been no shortage of founders looking to transform insurance over the last five years, but turning innovative insurtech ideas into successful businesses is an incredibly tough challenge. Jerad Leigh is the co-founder of Supercede, one of many companies we’ve worked with at InsTech London that have made the leap from 'early stage' to ‘established'. He joins Matthew on Podcast 151 to share...

Recorded after the InsTech London Summer Party, our first public event since Covid-19 restrictions were lifted, Matthew and Robin catch up for their quarterly partners’ chat.  The conversation covers their pick of the latest insurance and insurtech news stories, reaction to our report on embedded insurance, and even Robin’s restaurant recommendations.  Talking points include:  Face-to-face events...

Founded in 2010, CoreLogic has established itself as a leading provider of location and property intelligence, with more than 500 insurers and reinsurers now using its products. Mick Noland, General Manager for Insurance, joins Matthew to discuss the company’s growth over the last decade and the unique data sets that CoreLogic is creating for its insurance clients.  The conversation also covers re...

While insurtech, start-up funding and data and technology developments are important to all of us, we also need to understand how the major insurers make money, what their needs are from technology and how they address the challenge of change.   William Hawkins, Director of Research for Europe at investment bank KBW, joins Matthew to share insights from his team's research into the mainstream worl...

Skyline Partners and AEGIS London have launched a new parametric product to provide US small and medium business owners with cover in the event of a shooting. The Active Assailant policy uses police department data to define when an event has taken place, triggering a non-damage business interruption cover payment of up to $50,000. An initial launch is taking place in Dallas, Texas with the aim of...

Archipelago is aiming to improve the data shared between insurers and their corporate clients related to property risks. Archipelago is going directly to the original data sources - upstream from insurers to the risk manager and building owners. This is then collated and shared on a platform with brokers and selected insurers. Co-founder and CEO Hemant Shah, previously founder of catastrophe model...

The attraction and vast potential for ‘embedding’ insurance products has made it one of the hottest topics of 2021.  Robin Merttens chats to Simon Torrance on Podcast 144 about the opportunities offered by embedded insurance and insights from the InsTech London report, Insurance: to Embed or not to Embed. Talking points include: The definition of embedded insurance Embedded success stories from ar...

Tesselo is one of the companies looking to help its clients manage the impact of climate change, using satellite data and remote sensing to monitor tree and crop health and support forest owners and farmers in mitigating risks. The company, based in Lisbon, is now exploring insurance applications for its data and analytics and was recently selected to join Cohort 6 of the Lloyd’s Lab. Matthew talk...

The Managing General Agent (MGA) business model, by which companies can underwrite risks without retaining capital, has proved popular among insurtechs looking to use new technology to improve underwriting. So how do you set up a successful MGA? Matthew was joined by leading figures from tech-enabled MGAs when he hosted a panel at the 2021 Virtual KBW European Financials & Insurtech Conference. Th...

Robin steps back in as host this week to find out more about Sotera Heritage from co-founder Elizabeth Marston.  Sotera is using AI and machine learning to create irrevocable digital identities for ancient antiquities, helping insurers to accurately verify objects and provide tools for law enforcement agencies in the fight against the illicit sale of stolen artefacts.   Talking points include:  Di...

Gamma Location Intelligence helps insurers to understand property-based risks by providing accurate location data to support underwriting decisions. The company combines its own data sets with information from partners and third parties to provide a clearer view to clients on risks including flooding, subsidence, fire and crime. Chief Commercial Officer Richard Garry joins Matthew to discuss Gamma...

The accelerated shift to digital over the past twelve months has raised the profile and importance of pricing platforms in insurance. AkinovA is one of the companies finding success in the space, with its digital marketplace allowing buyers and sellers to carry out transactions wherever they are in the world. Matthew talks to Co-founder and CEO Henri Winand on Podcast 139 about how the platform he...

Insurance policies may leave businesses exposed to uninsured economic loss in the event of a hurricane or earthquake, because of excess, deductibles and exclusions. New Paradigm Underwriters offers parametric insurance products which use the wind speed of hurricanes and shake intensity of earthquakes to determine payouts to their clients in North America. Co-founder Evan Glassman joins Matthew on...

Covid-19 caused an overnight demand for digital primary healthcare services accelerating major improvements in how we all access and interact with providers. Dr Anushka Patchava, Deputy Chief Medical Officer at Vitality, joins Robin on Podcast 137 to discuss what that digital shift has meant for life & health insurers over the past 12 months, and the challenges that still lie ahead to achieve true...

Flood is the most pervasive hazard in the United States, but despite the huge scale of the risk there are major challenges around the provision of adequate flood cover based on accurate, real-time data. JBA Risk Management has spent the past decade developing flood models covering 99% of the world’s landmass and has leveraged that experience to provide new flood hazard maps and real-time modelling...

Good data helps insurers to price and manage risks more effectively, but only if the right information is available, affordable and easy to integrate into underwriting processes. HazardHub are providing solutions to those challenges by supplying insurers with data for perils like flood and wildfire and unique property risk information, including the location of every fire hydrant in the US. The co...