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Tencent 腾讯 (@TencentGlobal) Buys 10% of @Policybazaar, #Unicorn #India #Insurtech

People pass Tencent Holdings headquarters in Shenzhen.

Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

 

Tencent Holdings Ltd. has acquired a minority stake in Policybazaar.com valuing the Indian online insurance aggregator at $1.5 billion, according to a person familiar with the deal, as it tries to get a foothold in the country’s burgeoning insurance sector.

The Chinese technology giant bought 10% of Policybazaar, half of Tiger Global Management LLC’s stake in the company, the person said, asking not be identified as the matter was not public. The $150 million deal was signed earlier this week, the person added.

 

#Finverse #Riyad on Dec 10 & 11: how #Fintech, #Proptech, #Insurtech and #Impact #Investing can impact #UAE and #SaudiArabia?

@Insurtech_Cap @Minh_Q_Tran

 

Insurtech Capital

Insurtech Trends in the Middle East - 2019

The Middle East is highly underinsured compared to other regions so there is a great interest in new technologies as they could increase the number of people insured. Even if insurance faces cultural barriers in the Middle East - many people consider insurance as not Sharia-compliant - the insurance market in the Middle East is becoming more mature due to new regulatory requirements.

 

Regulatory requirements are creating opportunities for insurTechs in the Middle East

Regulatory regimes were significantly improved and modernized during the last few years. Thanks to new mandatory insurance policies, new lines of businesses such as health insurance and motor insurance are on the rise.

These regulations relate in particular to new regulatory pricing and reserving requirements for life products. If Middle East countries did not adopt Solvency II, capital requirements have been strengthened in line with Solvency II. Moreover, new legislation requiring employers to provide health insurance for their staff has already been announced in Bahrain and Oman for implementation in 2019. Mandatory health insurance became a key driver of growth in markets such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi, and others are set to follow. Another regulatory trend concerns the medical insurance market: in 2017, the UAE established mandatory health insurance.

Most of the insurance growth is driven by governments in Saudi Arabia and UAE and many companies are struggling with the existing regulatory frameworks. Regulation is characterized by strict guidelines imposed by the insurance authorities (from production to distribution).

Is regulation a lever or a brake for innovation? In some situations, these strong and changing regulations could be a brake on innovation as companies are focusing on adapting to new regulations. But most of them foster accessibility through the internet and favors technology. In particular, regulators are focusing on claims settlement.

Eventually, if regulations deepen the market in terms of growth opportunities, tightened regulatory capital requirements could increase the market concentration.

 

A growing market that remains dominated by local players

The insurance market in the Middle East looks stable from a premium perspective. Experts point out increasing profitability on all lines of businesses, shown by a growth of the net underwriting profit from 2016 to 2018. If the market is still very competitive and relatively soft, stable premiums and gradually rising net underwriting profits across all insurance lines are signs of a maturing market.

New opportunities for growth are offered by the region’s resilience despite geopolitical instability and a continued economic sluggishness. Even though executives anticipate further economic headwinds and fiscal tightening, price adequacy in commercial lines, especially in the property business, has improved, mainly in response to regulatory intervention.

Middle East’s low insurance penetration offers great potential for growth. Nevertheless, larger local players are expected to become more influential and continue to shape the market. Many are able to transfer skills acquired from operating in more developed markets around the world. However, minor players who lack global expertise may be less able to react to market and regulatory changes, adding pressure to their operations and the potential to be ultimately squeezed out of the market altogether.

 

Is digitalization the key for foreign players to compete in the Middle East?

To access this growing market, digitization and InsurTechs offers opportunities even though foreign insurers are still facing stricter requirements than local players.

Digitalization is the second most frequently mentioned opportunity for the market because of its potential on cost reduction and because it increases the appeal of insurance products to the younger populations of the region.

9 key conclusions to consider insurance in the Middle East in 2019 according to InsurTech Capital:

 

1. Many people in the Middle East consider insurance as not Sharia-compliant so it limits the adoption of insurance. The Middle East remains highly underinsured and Increasing regulations threaten market stability.
2. Clear need in Arab countries for innovation as the profitability of insurance is endangered by the decrease of investment revenues (low-interest rates, high rate of frauds, obsolete processes).
3. This is a highly concentrated market: the top 5 insurers control 50-55% of the market. They are all local companies (Abu Dhabi National Insurance Company and the Islamic Arab Insurance Company).
4. Most promising lines of business in Arab countries are motor, health, and travel insurance.
5. UAE is the largest insurance market of the Arabian Peninsula and the most favorable market for the development of insurance (growing middle class, positive regulations, growing usage of mobile phones and of the internet). The Life Insurance Regulations are likely to reduce the number of intermediaries and drive consolidation. UAE also leads innovation in the Middle East through investments in blockchain and on FinTechs.
6. The regulation will remain the main influencing factor for insurance disruption in the Middle East in the medium term through the creation of mandatory insurance. The regulation also stresses compliance and customer protection.
7. Middle East countries are seeing an increasing number of workers from Asian and emerging countries looking for other standards of insurance policies (regional PMI plans rather than fully international solutions).
8. Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence technologies are on the rise as the privacy of data and security is a major concern in the Middle East.
9. The most promising InsurTechs in the Middle East, such as Adenda and Aqeed, are focusing on distribution.

 

Research and article written by @theophile_deli, VC analyst at Odysseus

 

La fintech Particeep finalise une opération de financement en Venture Loan de 1,2 million d’euros avec La Banque Wormser Frères

Leader de l’édition de solutions de distribution en ligne de produits et services financiers, la fintech française Particeep vient de signer un contrat de prêt en Venture Loan avec la Banque Wormser Frères. Ce financement innovant porte le montant levé par la fintech depuis sa création à 2,5 millions d’euros et permettra à cette dernière de renforcer sa puissance commerciale en France et à l’international ainsi que ses efforts de recherche et développement. Le Venture Loan est un modèle de prêt innovant, quasi unique en France et adapté pour les entreprises à forte croissance qui viennent d'atteindre leur rentabilité. Tel est le cas de Particeep qui a triplé son résultat d'exploitation sur l'exercice 2018. Basée au cœur de Paris, la fintech Particeep offre des solutions sur étagère aux banques, aux assureurs, aux sociétés de gestion et à leurs distributeurs pour exposer leurs référentiels de produits et permettre à leurs clients finaux de souscrire en ligne à des produits bancaires et d’assurances. La société enregistre chaque année sur ses solutions plus de 200M € de souscriptions aux produits bancaires, d'assurances et de placements et a déjà séduit un grand nombre de références telles que Crédit du Nord, Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, Crédit Agricole ou encore des sociétés de gestion comme Novaxia Investissement, Seventure Partners, filiale du Groupe BPCE et Paref Gestion.   « Nous avons choisi ce mode de financement pour maintes raisons. Premièrement, il présente l'avantage d'être peu dilutif pour les fondateurs qui souhaitent garder à minima 70% du capital de la société en prévision d'un tour de table d'un montant important. De plus, il accroit nos capacités de production et d'investissement dans nos produits Particeep Plug et Particeep Finstore afin de répondre immédiatement à la demande croissante en France et à l'international. » Steve Fogue, Président et co-fondateur de Particeep. « Nous avons été impressionnés par le professionnalisme de l’équipe dirigeante et son exigence. En tant que banque, nous avons pu également apprécier la qualité et la robustesse des solutions de Particeep, confirmées par des grands clients de renom. Le Venture Loan, mode de financement innovant, nous a donc paru particulièrement adapté pour ce projet à fort potentiel. » Julien Wormser, Directeur Général Délégué, Banque Wormser Frères.     Témoignage de Steve Fogue, CEO de Particeep, en vidéo :

Lien : https://youtu.be/jmOekewHOnA

À propos de Particeep Particeep est une fintech qui fournit aux banques, aux assureurs, aux sociétés de gestion et à leurs distributeurs des solutions de commercialisation en ligne de leurs produits et services financiers. Elle propose une API constituée de micro-services bancaires et d’assurances prêts à l’emploi et des plateformes en marque blanche de distribution en ligne de produits bancaires, d’assurances et de placement.

#Insurtech #SantéConnectée en #Entreprise : Apple monte au front après Google

En 2015, j'avais investi dans Biobeats et c'était déjà hot

@joinBioBeats

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Nul doute que cette tendance devrait envahir l'Hexagone dans les prochain trimestres. Apple a annoncé mercredi que le US Department of Veterans Affairs, le département des vétérans de guerre américains, offrira à ses plus de 9 millions de patients l'accès à leurs informations de santé via Health Record, une fonctionnalité de l'application de santé d'Apple.

Et le géant californien est loin d'être le seul acteur du numérique à s'intéresser au domaine de la santé connectée en entreprise. Il y a quelques jours Google a annonçait l'acquisition de la société de wearables spécialisé dans la santé des salariés Fitbit pour la somme folle de 2,1 milliards de dollars. Une opération qui s'est conclue au nez et à la barbe de Facebook, qui aurait également tenté de s'accaparer le fabricant de bracelets connectés.

Accoler son image à celle des vétérans de guerre des Etats-Unis est pour Apple une formidable campagne de communication. Mais pas seulement. Car le département des vétérans, qui fournit des soins de santé aux anciens combattants dans plus de 1 200 établissements aux États-Unis, chapeaute le plus grand système de santé parapublic du pays. Il rejoint désormais plus de 400 organisations américaines qui utilisent déjà Health Records, dont l'Université de Californie à San Diego, Quest Diagnostics, et Allscripts.

publicité

Facilitation de la consultation des données

Cette offensive d'Apple dans le domaine de la santé laisse entrevoir un modèle économique où les acteurs de la tech vont pousser des services achetés par les entreprises pour permettre aux employés de bénéficier de solutions de santé connecté. Et Google veut faire de même avec Fitbit, connaissant très bien le lien entre collecte des données et objets connectés de santé.

Dans les cinq années qui viennent le GSMA dans un nouveau rapport prévoit que les wearables dédiés à la de santé deviendront "une partie de la solution à la surcharge des systèmes de santé public". Et la tendance est déjà là : plus de 50 % de la population des plus de 55 ans dans les pays à revenu élevé possèdent une dispositif de santé connecté prescrit par leur médecin.

Pour rappel, Health Records offre à ses utilisateurs un système de dossiers de santé électroniques (DSE) portatifs qui regroupe les données sur les patients des établissements participants. Ces données pourraient inclure les médicaments, les vaccinations, les résultats de laboratoire et d'autres renseignements médicaux.

L'application iOS évite à un patient de devoir se connecter sur le site Web de chaque fournisseur de soins de santé pour consulter son historique médical. Les données des dossiers de santé stockés sur l'application d'Apple sont chiffrées et protégées par le code d'accès iPhone, le Touch ID ou le Face ID de l'utilisateur.

La santé, un domaine clé pour Apple

"Aider les anciens combattants à mieux comprendre leur santé, c'est l'occasion de leur témoigner notre gratitude pour leurs services", s'est réjoui Jeff Williams, le directeur de l'exploitation chez Apple après la conclusion de ce partenariat. "En travaillant avec l'AV pour offrir les dossiers de santé sur iPhone, nous espérons aider ceux qui ont servi à avoir une plus grande tranquillité d'esprit que leurs soins de santé sont en de bonnes mains", a également estimé ce dernier.

Avant de généraliser l'accès de ses bénéficiaires à Health Records, le département des vétérans américains avait lancé une phase d'expérimentation au cours de l'été, permettant à un nombre limité de patients de bénéficier de l'application du géant californien, pour qui la santé fait aujourd'hui figure de priorité stratégique. Interrogé au début de l'année par la chaîne américaine CNBC, le PDG d'Apple, Tim Cook, avait ainsi déclaré : "si vous regardez en arrière et que vous vous posez la question 'quelle a été la plus grande contribution d'Apple pour l'humanité ?', la réponse désignera certainement des sujets de santé publique".

Apple se développe tranquillement dans cet espace depuis plusieurs années, à commencer par le lancement de sa plate-forme HealthKit et de son application HealthKit, qui a débuté en même temps que la première Apple Watch. Depuis lors, elle s'est tournée vers la collaboration avec des professionnels de la santé.

 

#Insurtech - Who wants to be a Billionaire? The route to being a Unicorn (part 2/3). My interview with Yashish Dahiya, CEO of @PolicyBazaar ‏

Part 1 was posted on July 16

SUMMARY

In this part, we learned about:

1. How he raised money?
2. What the key milestones of his success?
3. Why is the company so attractive for investors?
4. How he managed to reach the unicorn valuation with SoftBank?

 

BIO

Yashish Dahiya, CEO & Co-Founder, PolicyBazaar.com holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from IIT Delhi, a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM Ahmedabad, and an MBA from INSEAD. He started his career as a Business Unit Head at Illinios Tool Works and later moved on to Bain & Co. to work as a Management Consultant. Before starting his entrepreneurial journey with PolicyBazaar.com, he worked with First Europa, a Global Online Insurance Broker, as their CEO. At First Europa, he was responsible for leading the global expansion and managing the business of the company across 9 geographical locations. He has also had experience of working with an online travel aggregator, ebors.com, a leading pan-European online travel agency and led their business as the Managing Director.

 

INTERVIEW VIDEO

#Insurtech - Can you do IPO with non profitable startups? Lossmaking Lemonade (@Lemonade_Inc) postpones IPO.

 

 

13 Nov, 2019 13:11

Yasmin Yablonko

Like other Softbank portfolio companies WeWork and Uber, Israeli insurtech startup Lemonade has high revenue, but it is still losing money.

Israeli insurtech startup Lemonade, whose largest investor is Japanese fund Softbank, was planning a Wall Street IPO in the next six months, but has now postponed it indefinitely, the "Business Insider" website reports. Lemonade told "Globes," "We do not respond to rumors."

Business Insider's report is based on interviews with many sources familiar with Lemonade. One of these sources expressed concern about the attitude towards growing technology companies in the public markets, following WeWork's unsuccessful effort at an IPO. Lemonade, Softbank, and WeWork declined an opportunity from Business Insider to respond to the report.

 

Lemonade is a growth company that has raised hundreds of millions of dollars, mostly from Softbank. Last April, the company raised $300 million in a round led by Softbank at a valuation of over $1 billion. Lemonade has raised $480 million since it was founded by CEO Daniel Schreiber and Shai Wininger in 2015. Following this financing round, Wininger told "Globes" that the company's growth had accelerated in 2018: "We had a $10 million turnover at the end of 2017, and a $57 million turnover at the end of 2018, so we outperformed the projections for 2018."

Lemonade's revenue is high, but like Softbank's other portfolio companies, it is still a money-losing company that raises huge sums and spends even more that it raises on its growth. According to a report by "The Insurance Insider," based on reports submitted to the US regulator, Lemonade sold $2.3 million in net premiums in 2017, while its underwriting loss grew several times over to $15.8 million.

According to Lemonade's reports over the years, as quoted in Business Insider, Lemonade lost more than 100% of its revenue each year, and sometimes even more than 200%. For example, Lemonade lost 132% of its revenue from insurance sales in the first half of 2018, according to a post on its official blog. Schreiber declared that the company was planning to reach a 75% rate, higher than the 67% insurance industry average, according to a study by Harvard Business School. Business Insider added that Lemonade's insurance unit sold polices worth over $44 million in the first quarter of 2019, while its loss rate dropped to 87%, amounting to $5.8 million.

Commenting on Lemonade's losses, Wininger told "Globes" following the company's most recent financing round, "The company could be profitable, but we don’t want it to be profitable. In order to be profitable, it would have to stop growing."

Wininger's statement is typical of the prevailing attitude in the tech sector: investment in growth at the expenses of profits. Softbank has adopted this attitude, and the road to profitability at some of the companies in which it invests is not so clear, for example WeWork and Uber. The problem is that these companies reached the public market at a time when they still needed big money in order to maintain their existence.

SoftBank leads $300m round in Lemonade

Insurtech startup Lemonade's losses mount

WeWork, for example, postponed its IPO when many investors expressed doubt about its business model and corporate governance, after the company's prospectus revealed huge losses, a questionable business model, and dubious conduct by founder and CEO Adam Neumann. Softbank injected cash into the company and took 80% of its shares at a valuation of just $8 billion, compared with the $47 billion estimate of WeWork's value before the IPO. Neumann had to resign from the company's management and give up his control of it. Following the failure of WeWork's IPO and the steep decline in its valuation, Softbank reported a $6.4 billion loss in the third quarter of 2019.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on November 13, 2019

#Insurtech - Zego (@Zegocover) receives UK licence, the first startup to achieve this

 

London-based firm Zego is to be awarded an insurance licence, the first UK insurtech to achieve this.

It can now build and sell its own products, backed by 15 reinsurers including Swiss Re. Furthermore, it enables the firm to innovate and implement product changes in less than 24 hours.

In addition, Zego aims to use the insurance licence to harness the data in collates to develop automated pricing technology. it will monitor driver behaviour and external data to offer personalised policies in proportion to each customer’s true level of risk.

Sten Saar, CEO and co-founder of Zego, said: “This is a huge milestone for Zego and a clear signal that we are here to stay. The licence is also an essential ingredient in our mission to transform the insurance sector, by creating flexible policies which better reflect risk and truly cater to the fast-evolving world of mobility.

“We have already started selling our own products but will continue to partner with other insurance companies, with this collaboration still a crucial part of our business model.”

Simon Welton, Market Head P&C UK & Ireland at Swiss Re, added: “Swiss Re is very pleased to have been able to support Zego with our risk knowledge and reinsurance capacity. We have been impressed by Zego’s innovative and passionate approach to creating new insurance products which meet the changing needs of customers. We look forward to continuing to work with them in the future and supporting their growth plans.”

According to Zego, it has sold more than 100 million hours’ worth of policies. In addition, over 80% of this total has been sold in the last year.

According to Zego, it currently insurers a third of the UK’s food delivery market, mainly through partnerships with Deliveroo, Just Eat, and Uber Eats.

Zego policies have insured the equivalent of 267 million pizza deliveries, half a billion e-scooter rides or 137,000 months of on-demand car subscriptions.

Source:

https://www.verdict.co.uk/life-insurance-international/news/insurtech-zego-awarded-insurance-licence/#

 

Global Insurtech Cover Genius Secures $10 Million Through Series B Funding Round Led By King River Capital

Global insurtech company Cover Genius announced last week it secured $10 million through its Series B funding round, which was led by King River Capital with participation from Belfer Family, Jasper Tans, Regal Funds Management, and Marinya Capital. Founded in 2014, Cover Genius claims to be one of the fastest-growing insurtechs in the world. The company’s partners notably use its services to sell millions of policies per year in more than 60 countries.

“Cover Genius’ award-winning technologies include XCover, a distribution platform providing coverage for any line of insurance in any country, language and currency. XCover was developed after the early success of Rental Cover in the mobility space. Underpinned by our global insurance licensing framework and a capability to make customers central insurance experience, the two platforms protect millions of customers per year. Claims are handled by XClaim, our API for real-time payment of approved claims. It handles tens of thousands of instant claim payments in 90+ currencies via bank transfer, and it also allows partners to choose to remit via store credits, e-wallet and card top-ups.”

via www.crowdfundinsider.com

Insurtech Market (2019 - 2026) – Global Analysis By Prominent Players and Growth Strategies | Research Industry US - News Conduct

The report study researched by Research Industry US gives comprehensive knowledge and valuable insights about the Global Insurtech Market. In addition, the study attempts to deliver significant and detailed insights into the current market prospect and emerging growth scenarios. The report on Insurtech Market also emphasizes on market players as well as the new entrants in the market landscape. The extensive research will help the well-established as well as the emerging players to set up their business strategies and achieve their short-term and long-term goals. The report also adds significant details rising of the evaluation of the scope of the regions and where the key participants should head to find potential growth opportunities in the future.

The Insurtech market research report presents a detailed analysis based on the thorough research of the overall market, particularly on questions that border on the market size, growth scenario, potential opportunities, operation landscape, trend analysis, and competitive analysis of Insurtech Market. This research is conducted to understand the current landscape of the market, especially in 2019. This will shape the future of the market and foresee the extent of competition in the market. This report will also help all the manufacturers and investors to have a better understanding of the direction in which the market is headed.

Request For Free Sample Report (Kindly Use Your Bussiness/Corporate Email Id to Get Priority): http://researchindustry.us/report/global-insurtech-market-ric/804631/request-sample

Leading players operating in the market include

Insureon
ACD
Rein
FWD
GoBear
AppOrchid
BRIDGE
CHSI Connections
CideObjects
DOCUTRAX
GENIUSAVENUE
Majesco
Plug and Play

Our researchers have taken into account significant aspects of the vendor landscape such as strategy framework, company market positioning, and competitive environment for providing detailed competitive analysis of the global Insurtech market. For company profiling, they studied strategic initiatives, product benchmarking, and financial performance of leading players included for the research study.

Over the statistical analysis, the Insurtech Market report depicts the global Insurtech Industry including capacity, production, production value, cost/profit, supply/demand, and global import/export. The total market is further divided by type/application, by country, by company, and for the competitive landscape analysis. The Insurtech Market report delivers a straightforward overview of the industry including its definition, applications and manufacturing technology.

The report also analyses global markets including growth trends, business opportunities, investment plans, and expert opinions. The report

via newsconduct.com