Insurtech Firms to Keep an Eye On

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Insurance technology (or insurtech to those in the know) continues to be hot; more than $3 billion in funding was poured into the sector in 2018, and that figure in 2019 is expected to be even higher. In our travels to and fro in recent weeks, we have been fortunate enough to meet with and discover a number of interesting – and very diverse – firms in this space.

One such company is Kangaroo, which is not only one of the growing number of insurtechs named after a member of the animal kingdom, but an innovative smartphone-based home security company that recently raised more than $10 million in Series A funding, led by Greycroft. Kangaroo’s smart home security product features app-based controls and lets users self-monitor their homes for free, or choose to be connected to 24/7 professional monitoring for $60/year with no contract or cancellation fees.

We’ve heard a lot about how drones will change the insurance industry, and one start-up we’re keeping an eye on in this space is Tel Aviv-based Voom, which recently raised $5 million in funding and provides a telematics-based insurance platform for drones and other specialized mobility services such as e-scooters.

Insurtech, of course, isn’t all about customer-facing innovation; it’s changing the way insurance companies operate on the back end as well. One start-up making waves in that area is Automation Hero, which uses AI and machine learning to automate routine tasks, such as updating CRMs, to free up human employees to concentrate on more value-added work. Insurance is among the top sectors that have adopted Automation Hero’s technology.

We’d also be remiss if we didn’t mention a few other firms that caught our eye:

  • Digital life insurance start-up Covr

  • Chisel, a provider of AI services to the commercial insurance industry

  • Fraud detection and risk evaluation startup Skopenow

  • Quotacy, which lets consumers compare and contrast different life insurance products to find the best fit for them

We’ve also seen start-ups Dream Payments and Wirecard bring digital claims disbursement solutions to the insurance industry.

This is just a small sampling of the types of up-and-coming firms changing the insurtech landscape, and we’re keen to continue to monitor its growth.