“We won one of our largest customers, a seven-figure deal with a top five insurance logo, from Insurtech Insights”.
Bastiaan de Goei and Saurabh Saini are two of the team behind Instabase’s growth into the insurance industry. Now valued at USD$2bn, the Unicorn automates the processing of complex documents and unstructured data content through its applied AI technology. Having established itself as a leading service provider within the banking sector and serving top global banks, such as NatWest, Instabase sought to expand its customer base.
When they first partnered with Insurtech Insights in 2022, their business strategy involved expanding their Total Addressable Market and breaking into the insurance industry. Having achieved this, Instabase returned as a sponsor in 2023 and again in 2024 with a new product offering aimed at broadening its market from enterprise-level companies to also include the wider mid-market.
Bastiaan, a former AXA Executive, was brought in to lead this expansion into insurance and today serves as their Director of Growth Marketing. In 2022, he was joined by Saurabh, the Senior Field and ABM Manager responsible for Instabase’s field events and demand generation activities.
Bastiaan de Goei speaking at Insurtech Insights
Tapping into the Insurance Market
Having identified insurance as a target demographic for their document processing technology, Bastiaan and Saurabh needed to build a go-to-market strategy to open up this market. They quickly identified events like Insurtech Insights as a core growth lever, enabling them to interact with potential customers, establish their thought leadership and gain further insight into the industry. Bastiaan and Saurabh had previously attended Insurtech Insights’ conferences during their previous roles in the insurance industry. Remembering it as one of their “favourite conferences”, they chose Insurtech Insights as the forum to open up the insurance market for their product.
Brand Awareness
To successfully expand into insurance, it was critical to establish a firm awareness of Instabase’s product and brand within the industry. Gathering 6,000 leaders and decision-makers from insurers, reinsurers and insurtechs, Insurtech Insights provided the ideal forum to do so. By participating on stage in panels and speaking opportunities, in addition to meeting key industry participants face to face at their booth, Instabase was able to place its brand firmly in front of its target audience of leading insurance enterprise companies.
“Because ITI’s conferences are located in the largest hotspots of the insurance world, you get access to all the right people. This cannot be underestimated because it opens all sorts of possibilities that you can leverage”, said Bastiaan.
Thought Leadership
“What distinguishes Insurtech Insights from many other conferences is the superior quality of their content”.
To fuel its growth in the insurance space, Instabase also needed to establish its reputation as a thought leader within the industry. As Bastiaan stated:“Insurance is an industry built on relationships, so gaining that trust was essential”. By getting on stage at Insurtech Insights, Bastiaan contributed to the conversation on cutting-edge developments in AI and its potential applications to the insurance industry. Taking part in these curated panels and speaking slots, Instabase spoke to their target audience in new and interactive ways. Doing this alongside other thought leaders firmly established them as a thought leader within insurance.
Driving Leads
Through their speaking engagements and booth presence, Instabase was also able to start conversations with decision-makers from key potential target accounts. Many of these conversations fit perfectly into their growth strategy, engaging with C-suite executives from both leading insurance enterprises, as well as from the SMB level. Taking advantage of the range of events offered at the conference, such as attending breakfasts, further contributed to building relationships with potential customers. As Bastiaan said, “It is these types of meeting points that are key in accelerating very complex deals”. As a result, Instabase was able to initiate conversations with some of their now largest customers.
“It is not only about the volume of leads, but it’s also about the quality. For instance, we were able to secure multi-year contracts ending up in sums of millions of dollars”.
Join Instabase at Insurtech Insights Europe 2025, taking place on March 19-20th at InterContinental London – The O2.
Working with the ITI Team
Having continued their partnership with Insurtech Insights in 2023 and 2024, Bastiaan and Saurabh recommend working with the team.
Saurabh says: “Working with the entire team from our account manager, to the content team and the Customer Experience Manager was just great”.
Advice for Future Sponsors
When asked what advice they would give anyone thinking of sponsoring Insurtech Insights, Bastiaan says: “I would advise that preparation is key: understand what people will be there, schedule as many meetings as possible in advance, and make full use of the tools that ITI makes available”. Finally, he adds that interaction is key: “Just put a smile on your face and talk to the people attending”.
