Ascot and Beazley launch $50m insurtech cargo consortium
Who’s involved: Bermuda domiciled re/insurer AscotGroup, specialist insurer Beazley and Lloyd’s Lab
What’s happening? Ascot and Beazley have launched a Lloyd’s based cargo consortium that uses insurtech solutions to help manage risk and claims performance.
Policyholders will have the option of using electronic cargo monitoring devices developed by Denver-based insurtech firm Parsyl.
The use of these devices will help both the consortium carriers and provide data feeds to policyholders. Parsyl is a graduate of the Lloyd’s Lab programme
Significance of development: The consortium brings together a range of cargo carriers that will provide a maximum of $50m capacity.
It is aimed at SME cargo business, which has traditionally faced high associated expenses due to the nature of the subscription market
Timeline: With immediate effect
CoverHound raises $58m in funding
Who’s involved: San Francisco-basedCoverhound, an online insurance comparison shopping platform, Hiscox, Chubb, Aflac Ventures and Japan’s MS&AD
What’s happening? Multiple carriers participated in CoverHound’s $58m Series D financing
Hiscox led the round, with Chubb, Aflac Ventures and Japan’s MS&AD also participating
Significance of development: The funding will fuel the continued development of CoverHound’s’s subsidiary CyberPolicy, which compares cyber insurance prices online.
It will also allow CoverHound to expand its offices beyond San Francisco and Westlake Village, California to Charlotte, North Carolina and drive the company’s international expansion efforts into Japan and other global markets
Timeline: CoverHound has raised more than $112m since its early 2010 launch
Austrian insurtech secures €4m in funding
Who’s involved: bsurance, an Austrian insurtech company founded in November 2017 which specialises in B2B2C business models; and Uniqa Ventures, the venture capital arm of Austrian insurance group Uniqa
What’s happening? Uniqa Ventures and new investors have invested a total of €4m in bsurance. The other investors were not disclosed
Significance of development: Following bsurance’s launch in Austria and Germany, expansion into Western Europe and Central Eastern European countries will continue.
This step will be supported by partnerships concluded last year with Munich Re and Uniqa. Parallel to this, bsurance has said talks are already underway with other insurance companies
Timeline: With immediate effect
Annual investment in insurtech almost doubles in 2018
Who’s involved: Data provider FinTech Global
What’s happening? The capital invested in insurtech startups and scale-ups reached $3.18bn worldwide in 2018, almost double the $1.65bn invested in 2017, according to data from the FinTech Global database
Significance of development: The actual number of deals completed last year dropped slightly from 142 in 2017 to 138 in 2018, as the average deal size increased.
North American share of deals dropped from 58% in 2014 to 49% in 2018.
Timeline: The European share of insurtech investment increased from 23% in 2014 to 31% in 2018.
Asia’s share of deals remained relatively stable, varying between a high of 16% in 2015 and a low of 13.8% in 2018