The first-ever Isle of Man Insurtech Accelerator programme came to a close on Thursday 26 January with a demo day for the scale-ups to pitch their innovations to the wider community. The event was the conclusion of a four-month programme aimed at developing solutions for the insurance sector, organised in partnership with the global innovation ecosystem and early-stage investor, F10.
Seven scale-up companies hailing from the UK, Europe and Singapore were selected to take part from over 70 applications. The cohort came together on the island over 14 weeks to receive mentorship, masterclasses and support from several established partners, including Zurich, EIP and Momentum international.
Marc Hauser, head of F10 Europe, said: “After over a year of early talks and then close collaboration with Finance Isle of Man we reached an important milestone. I am super excited and couldn’t be any prouder of what the ministry, the participating insurance companies and startups have achieved.
“We absolutely exceeded our expectations. Not only did we raise awareness of Insurtech on the Island, but insurers also became more proficient in collaborating and startups were able to discover new business opportunities.”
A lucrative industry
The Isle of Man is known for its particularly booming insurtech and insurance hub, with insurance representing 22.4 per cent of the island’s GDP. The rich ecosystem that already exists was partly why the idea for the accelerator programme was formed, as Michael Crowe of Finance Isle of Man said. “We thought that if we’re going to do a big fintech project, it would make sense to have it anchored within our largest industry as we have a ready-made community that could mutually help each other.
“We’ve been able to highlight to the cohort aspects of the Isle of Man industry. We’ve introduced them to our insurance community and insurance businesses and had them work together, whether that’s companies based on the island, the advisory community or the regulator. Everyone has been involved to help refine proposals and build connections between the cohort and our ecosystem.”
Pitching their concepts
The demo day allowed each company to showcase their offerings as well as the advancements they have made during the programme. Esteemed guests such as the Chief Minister of the Isle of Man Hon Alfred Cannan, MHK, and Magdalena Ramada Sarasola, senior director and insurtech innovation leader at Willis Towers Watson were also in attendance.
Each of the seven companies pitched their solutions to a room full of people from the island’s insurance industry. Collaboration has been encouraged at every step, both with the cohort and members of the wider industry, as well as sectors such as banking, pensions and financial services.
Crowe added: “The ideas and solutions offered by the insurtech cohort at the Demo Day, though designed to satisfy the needs of the insurance community, are actually much broader than that and have application in the wider financial services landscape”
The participating scale-ups included:
Kasko – Kasko enables insurers to design, launch and scale digital insurance services time and cost-effectively across all channels.
Kidbrooke – Kidbrooke enables financial institutions to create engaging customer journeys providing superior financial decision-support in a fraction of the time and cost.
Staple – Staple develops cognitive AI to process, extract and reconcile non-structured data at scale, regardless of layout or language.
Spixii – Spixii CPA platform enables companies to automate their high-value services into 24/7 online structured conversations, 10 times quicker than other channels such as email, phone and web form.
Regsearch – Regsearch is a regulatory knowledge community that gives individuals and companies instant access to any regulatory documentation in one location.
SignD – SignD is the all-in-one platform for compliant and friendly onboarding processes.
Neuroprofiler – Neuroprofiler helps financial institutions assess the investor profile of their clients and comply with regulations via behavioural finance and gamification.
Looking ahead
With the Accelerator programme considered a roaring success, eyes are already looking to the future. Plans for a second cohort are already being discussed, with the Island’s first “Fintech Innovation Challenge” already taking applications to commence later this year.
“The Accelerator Programme’s Demo day is a major milestone, but it’s not the end. We’re already considering what the next steps are going to be” said Simon Pickering, head of insurance and pensions at Isle of Man Department for Enterprise. “We’ve firmly put ourselves on the map as an insurtech centre, but we hope to attract more people from the global environment to consider doing business here.”
