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Investments into insurtech funding rounds rebounded to reach $1.56 billion in the second quarter of 2020, a more than 71% increase on the first-quarter of the year, according to Willis Re. Global investments into insurtech start-ups fell at the start of the year, as the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemics in capital markets put some investors attention elsewhere. However, the second-quarter rebound was driven in part by later-stage investments, including four large investment rounds of US $100 million or greater. https://www.willistowerswatson.com/en-GB/insights/2020/07/quarterly-insurtech-briefing-q2-2020

Total new worldwide funding commitments to the InsurTech sector in 2019 have already surpassed the 2018 full-year total, and during the third quarter exceeded $1.2 billion for the fifth consecutive quarter-year period, according to the new Quarterly InsurTech Briefing from Willis Towers Watson.

The World InsurTech Report (WITR) 2019 from Capgemini and Efma explores the Insurance marketplace of the future and offers insights into how established insurers and InsurTechs can remain competitive in a dynamic business environment.

The World InsurTech Report (WITR) 2019 from Capgemini and Efma explores the Insurance marketplace of the future and offers insights into how established insurers and InsurTechs can remain competitive in a dynamic business environment.

Despite the global coronavirus pandemic, U.K. fintech funding saw a slight uptick in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. Fintech investments were up 3.8% in the first half of 2020 to just over £2bn, up from £1.9bn in the first half of 2019. The slight increase can largely be attributed to a surge in investment across insurtech and payments startups. Investment in insurtech saw the largest increase, increasing by 66% from £97m in 2019 to £161m in 2020 and payments-focused fintechs followed, seeing a 5.3% increase on 2019 to £760m.

Hong Kong's Insurance Authority announced on Tuesday that it has granted the first authorization for virtual general insurance under Fast Track. The license was granted to Avo, a local insurtech company providing products like health and travel insurance"

China's insurance market has grown rapidly over the past few years. In 2017, total primary premiums in China hit RMB 3.1 trillion, making the nation the second largest insurance market in the world. Online insurance has achieved even faster growth, with online insurance premiums increasing by nearly twentyfold over the last five years from RMB 11.07 billion in 2013 to RMB 183.53 billion in 2017.

Lemonade, one of the biggest among a wave of digital insurance companies, is to enter the German market in its first move outside the US. The company is one of the best-known examples of the "insurtech" companies hoping to shake up the industry with new technology and innovative business models.

Insurtech start-up B3i has launched its first product on R3's Corda platform, v1.0 of its Property Catastrophe Excess of Loss Reinsurance product. The new Cat XoL product will allowing insurers, brokers and reinsurers to "interact, negotiate and place risk more securely and efficiently."

By harnessing the latest technologies, ZhongAn Online continues to integrate technology into every process in the insurance sector so as to reshape the entire insurance value chain.

Aon, via insurtech platform Nayms that supports cryptocurrency investors in insuring crypto-risk, is conducting a pilot with Teller Finance, a decentralized lending protocol, to highlight the ability to scale cover efficiently by matching assets to liabilities when underwriting crypto-specific risk. The underwriter for the contract will be Relm Insurance Ltd, a Bermudian specialist insurer. The pilot will mark the first tokenised, or blockchain-enabled, placement of insurance ever conducted with regulated, professional insurance entities.

Insurtech Lemonade has launched its blockchain- and stablecoin-based parametric climate risk insurance in Kenya's Taita Taveta County. 6,000 insurance policies were issued by the Lemonade Crypto Climate Coalition, constituted as a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) on Avalanche, an eco-friendly proof-of-stake blockchain. Farmers sign on their feature phones on which they also pay their insurance premiums using stablecoins or local currencies to cover their entire crop against drought and flood. When the season is over, parametric weather results are gathered and payouts are automatically made to farmers in drought or flood affected areas, with no claims filing process. https://investor.lemonade.com/news-and-events/news/news-details/2022/The-Lemonade-Foundation-Turns-to-Blockchain-to-Protect-Subsistence-Farmers-from-Climate-Change/default.aspx

According to CB Insights, global fintech funding hit its lowest level since 2017, totaling $7.8 billion in Q2 2023 (-48% from Q1 2023) through 845 rounds (-22%). The payments segment was hardest hit (-75% in funding terms), followed by digital lending (-44%). At the other end of the spectrum, fintech companies with artificial intelligence (AI)-led models (e.g., focused on digital lending, insurtech, and investment and capital market technology) saw strong funding growth according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/research/global-fintech-funding-nearly-halves-to-23b-in-h1-2023

According to the latest KPMG Pulse of Fintech report H1 2023 was difficult for the fintech market globally, with both total funding and the number of deals dropping. There was increasing focus on operational efficiency, sustainable cash flows, and profitability. Crypto funding declined in the wake of sector challenges, combined with increasing focus on broader blockchain solutions. However, there is rapidly growing interest in potential use cases for generative AI, particularly in cybersecurity, insurtech, and wealthtech.

Digital transformation is powering China's economy and also new growth opportunities for the insurance sector. [PDF]

Between Citbank, Westpac, and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) there are plenty of compliance-related problems to solve, and each company is looking at regtech solutions to make it happen.

Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty is developing a "token-based" ecosystem, utilizing blockchain, to simplify and accelerate cross-border insurance payments for its corporate customers.

"The face of insurance is changing. Again. Led by data, digitalisation and a need to engage the customer, there are already many shifts underway. This current round of technology-driven change differs from those of the past, not least because of the speed and scale involved. Harnessed properly, these powerful forces offer new hope for the insurance industry to remain central to the lives of its customers. Swiss Re's Sigma report Data-driven insurance, ready for the next frontier? explains what's going on and presents a potential roadmap for progress."

This report examines both the benefits and risks big data and AI can bring to the insurance industry. In particular, this reports discusses how the OECD Recommendation on Artificial Intelligence, and the European Commission's Independent High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence's (HLAG AI) Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI should be considered in the context of the insurance sector. The report concludes with policy areas in which policy makers may consider action in the insurance sector in relation to big data and AI going forward.