“So why is it raining money for insurtech?” Gateway CEO Simon O’Dell says in a July update. “Insurance is one of the most resilient and fundamentally essential industries of our time but it still has a long way to go to catch up to today’s consumer expectations.”
Innovation and flexibility in insurance are sought after commodities in a COVID-19 world, he says.
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In Europe over €1.7 billion ($2.7 billion) was invested across 52 deals in the first half of the year, while Willis Towers Watson reported first quarter funding globally rose 180% to $US2.55 billion ($3.5 billion).
New York and Singapore based firm bolttech recently completed an oversubscribed $US180 million ($244 million) series A funding round, which it said was the largest ever for an insurtech and valued the firm at more than $US1 billion ($1.4 billion), giving it “unicorn status” a year after launch.
“We’re seeing similar indicators here in Australia, with Honey, raising a record breaking $15m for its seed round in June but we’re still working on a subdued scale,” Mr O’Dell said.
Honey, which aims to shake-up the home and contents market, received financial backing from underwriting partner RACQ and other institutional investors.
Source: Insurance News
