Tag: insurtech

INSURTECHHUB MUNICH STARTS FOURTH EDITION OF W1 FORWARD INSURTECH ACCELERATOR

Starting now, applications are being taken for InsurTech Hub Munich’s W1 Forward InsurTech Accelerator until 7^thMarch 2019. Existing since 2015, the eight-weeks program is designed for early-stage cross-industry international startups that want to make an impact on the insurance business with their digital solutions. It includes workshops, one-on-one mentoring and coaching sessions. Startups are assisted in becoming experts in insurance and turning validated entrepreneurial ideas market- and investor-ready, building pilots with InsurTech Hub Munich’s (ITHM) corporate members.

“We’re looking for true disruptors, people who think big and outside the box”, says Manuel Holzhauer, ITHM’s Managing Director. “Established insurance companies are starting to realize their biggest competitors are no longer their industry peers, but rather the Tech Big 5 or Insurtech unicorns. Therefore cross-industry ideas are more than welcome”. He points to the hub’s services for startups: “We can offer access to a huge network of mentors, coaches, investors and allies both within the industry, in universities and with our startup alumni. But our true USP is the unparalleled access we provide startups to our fourteen insurance members.” ITHM’s partners range from international insurance market leaders to local champions and cross-industry players like PwC and Roche.

STRONG NETWORK OF PARTNERS AND ALUMNI

W1 Forward InsurTech Accelerator is performed in cooperation with WERK1, ‘the most start-up-friendly place in Munich‘, a startup hub funded by the Bavarian ministry for economic affairs promoting the regional startup ecosystem. Funded by both its partners and Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy, ITHM hosts events, networking opportunities, knowledge-sharing workshops or meetups and partners with internationally renowned events like the Digital Insurance Agenda (DIA) Conference

Once startups have reached a later stage, the second of ITHM’s accelerator programs, InsurTech Europe powered by Plug&Play, assists them in the scaling phase. ITHM works closely with fifteen other digital hubs (de:hubs) in Germany, each focused on their own vertical, aimed at putting Germany on the global digitization heatmap. W1 Forward InsurTech Accelerator alumni include Road Safety startup Kruzr, which has secured a $1.3M seed fundingrecently or Munich-based e-bot7, specializing in Artificial Intelligence solutions for Customer Service.

Registration & further details:

W1>>INSURTECH ACCELERATOR

February 14, 2019 Oliver HalbigW1 - InsurTech, WERK1 Stories

InsurTech Cashwalk in WERK1: A pitch event of superlatives

From mobile health checks at the workplace to full-service partners for drone services. At the first InsurTech Cashwalk at WERK1, 27 international start-ups competed for the favour of more than 60 hand-picked investors. In the end, the jury honored three winners.

The InsurTech Hub Munich has invited together with the LMU Entrepreneurship Center to the Cashwalk and the startups, they came in large numbers. More than 50 had applied in advance, at the end about half of them were allowed to present themselves to an audience of potential investors. The challenge: Each start-up had just three minutes to present a problem, the solution and the product.

What is special for us is that it is a pitching in staccato mode. The cashwalk is a very nice allusion to the catwalk, a kind of showdown of the startups. We chose this format very specifically so that the listener, especially investors, has the opportunity to see a large number of startups in a very short time and to get a first impression.
Dr. Florian Mann, CEO WERK1

Those who wanted to leave a lasting impression had to have the appropriate answers ready for the jury after the pitch. The critical questions posed by the ten jury members were primarily aimed at luring the founders out of their reserves and examining their ideas in detail.

In addition to looking at the business model, founders and previous traction or pilots, I am also interested in what really differentiating capabilities the company is building and how these can be scaled – for example with an insurer as a cooperation partner – and how concrete impact can be generated.
Dr. Volker Büttner, Head of Group Innovation im Generali-Headoffice in Mailand (Juror)

It’s also important to me to see how the team is put together and what fire they bring with them, so are they really convinced of their idea?
Dr. Florian Mann, CEO WERK1 (Juror)

In the end it was not only the business potential that counted, but also the enthusiasm, which of course also had to be felt by the investors in order to be convincing. The desired investment sum of the start-ups ranged from 40,000 to 2 million euros. Ambroise Fargère from +Simple came from France especially for the InsurTech Cashwalk.

I just started at my company four weeks ago. So the pitch today was quite a challenge. But it’s great to be here, to meet people and above all to connect with potential partners.
Ambroise Fargère / +Simple

We are here to meet interesting new start-ups from the InsurTech sector, because this is an important market and the industry is in a state of upheaval. The interesting thing about this event is that on the one hand there are a lot of start-ups from one subject area and on the other that the investor scene is also represented. So you can also exchange ideas.
Stephan Mohrhardt / Ancore Finance Group

There were certainly enough interesting and extraordinary ideas on this exclusive pitch day. Here is a small excerpt:

BODY-LABS: THE HEALTH CHECK AT THE WORKPLACE

Whether control of heart, blood, or breathing. The vision of Body-Labs is to use a mobile laboratory to give employees a holistic insight into their most important health values in just 15 minutes. Everything in the comfort of your workplace. For entrepreneurs, this could be an interesting possibility in the future to be able to
to invest individually in the health of their employees.

IDANA: THE DIGITAL ANAMNESIS

Using a digital questionnaire, the startup wants to record important information even before the consultation with the doctor. The questionnaires are specially tailored to the patient’s complaints and can be answered via smartphone or tablet in the waiting room or already from home. The physician receives the data in encrypted form and can thus
to get a more accurate picture of his patient in advance.

DYNAMIC COMPONENTS: EARLY DETECTION OF PROCESS RISKS OF LIFTS

The startup from Munich has developed software and hardware for predictive maintenance of elevators and escalators. For example, data on elevators and escalators is to be collected and used for trend analyses. The aim is to reduce maintenance costs for the customer and to avoid breakdowns that can even determine life and death in hospitals.

At the end of this exciting pitch day, Andy Goldstein from the Entrepeneurship Center of the LMU Munich awarded the winners. 1st place went to Black Rock Insurance from Great Britain, followed by Dynamic Components and FairFleet from Munich. The gift bag for the winners, rather symbolic. The much greater value was certainly the one or the other business card of an Investor.

July 30, 2018 Oliver HalbigEvent Stories, W1 - InsurTech, WERK1 Stories

Demo Day at WERK1: Nine startups present their vision for a modern insurance industry

WERK1 - InsurTech Accelerator - DemoDay - Gallery

9 start-ups. Around 60 mentors. 13 insurance partners. 8 weeks. One could almost call it a small boot camp of the startup scene, which took place in the last weeks here in the rooms of WERK1. The result: Nine innovative solutions that could advance the future of the digital insurance industry. With the live presentations of the international teams the third batch of the W1>> InsurTech Accelerator ends successfully.

You’ve invested your heart and soul in the last eight weeks. But for most of the participants in the batch, that also meant less sleep and more coffee. But days like this are the reward for the hard and intensive working hours, because there was a lot of interest in their projects. The Eventspace: Full to bursting with almost 200 enthusiastic startup colleagues, investors, insurers and the curious.

W1>> INSURTECH ACCELERATOR BATCH 3

The special feature of this batch is that it is almost twice as large as its predecessors. 75 startups have applied for the program this year. Nine international teams, including one from Australia and two from India, were selected in the end.

“The demands on this batch were greater, from start to finish. The recruiting process alone was more complex and international than ever before. In the meantime, word has spread about our concept from Munich. That’s a nice signal of what a worldwide attraction we’ve developed.”
Dr. Florian Mann, CEO WERK1

Around €50,000 was invested in each start-up in the form of infrastructure, top-class mentoring and direct links to more than a dozen globally active insurance companies. This “all-round carefree package” turned ideas into scalable business models in no time at all.

After interviews on stage with the W1>>team members and a short speech by Tom Van den Brulle, Head of Global Innovation at Munich Re, the startups got serious. Each team had exactly five minutes to present its own project to the experts present. Here are a few examples of the presentations:

ANYONE CAN AND IS ALLOWED TO PITCH

Ayan Srivastava presented with a video the app Kruzr, which turns the smartphone into a driving assistant. The Kruzr language assistant could become a helpful co-pilot, e.g. by warning in case of increased speed or bad weather conditions, by suggesting breaks after longer driving times, or by simply managing incoming messages. The aim is to significantly reduce the number of car accidents.

The next step was the intelligent health platform Docyet, which can not only talk to the patients, but also has appropriate solutions for their problems with the help of artificial intelligence. Petra and Samuel von Freya discussed the topic of human fertility and possible insurance benefits, and Marguerite from MedPayRx explained how Blockchain technology can help patients buy medicines online in the future. At the end of the presentations everyone received a certificate. For Gilberto from Sydney it was a nice memory of an exciting and intense time.

„Since the first day I came for demo day, I felt like: this is the place. It was a really intense time, but I always wanted to get the most out of it! It was a huge opportunity to speak directly with a collection of insurance companies and it has really opened a lot of doors for us.“
Gilberto Spencer CEO & Gründer von Claimspace

The hard work was worth it. All nine start-ups have mastered their presentations on stage with confidence and professionalism. Program coordinator Daniel Nowack is very satisfied after the pitches, almost a bit sentimental.

“It was an incredibly dynamic cohort with whom it was a lot of fun to work together. Everyone could learn from everyone. On a day like today, seeing startups present themselves self-confidently who were previously very insecure is a huge gift!“

A SUCCESS FOR THE INSURERS

The W1>> InsurTech Accelerator connects the world of startups with the world of large insurance companies and not only the founders benefit. Johannes Wagner revealed us at the Demo-Day:

“For our insurers, it is a constant competition for premium innovations. We have to get to the top issues worldwide. W1>>InsurTech is a collection basin for this. Here we have access to premium innovations, not from Silicon Valley, but directly from Munich”.
Johannes Wagner, Vorstand InsureTech HUB München / Leiter Start-up Corporation Versicherungskammer Bayern

Besides interviews, speeches and pitches there was of course enough time for celebrations and networking. At small booths each startup could introduce itself to interested visitors in the WERK1 Café and have a drink to discuss the ideas of the startups in more detail. Our evening ends at the booth of Freya and with the beautiful words of founder Petra:

„It was a unique program. We love it here in Munich. WERK1 has a super friendly atmosphere, we feel like home!“

July 5, 2018 Julia Katharina TomskiEvent Stories, W1 - InsurTech, WERK1 Stories

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! INSURTECH HUB AT INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIR DIA

Numerous highly informative discussions, intensive exchanges and close contacts to both existing and potential partners: The Digital Insurance Agenda (DIA) congress, at which InsurTech Hub Munich e.V. presented itself as one of the trade fair partners, was a great event for the network. “Once again we showed how attractive Munich is for InsurTech companies. It is impressive to see that participants from all industries, big reinsurers and insurers, start-ups, tech companies, journalists and politicians agree and say: we will make the insurance industry more digital and we will do it together” , Tom Van den Brulle, 1st Chairman of InsurTech Hub, has a thoroughly positive track record.

No fewer than 1,000 decision makers from 42 countries around the world, from Australia to Canada and from Argentina to Japan, transformed the third edition of the DIA into a superlative InsurTech event. One of the highlights was undoubtedly the appearance of Daniel Schreiber, founder of Lemonade and a kind of Steve Jobs in the InsurTech industry. But the numerous lectures by other start-up founders also captivated the audience.

The good mood was also reflected in the atmosphere at the InsurTech Hub booth. Top-class guests and conversations shaped the two DIA days. International investors looking for innovative start-ups, as well as Bavaria’s Minister of Economic Affairs Ilse Aigner, learned about the ideas for the future on site. Another highlight was the demo day of the W1 Forward InsurTech Accelerator. The five start-ups of the second batch presented themselves to the professional audience and received a lot of praise. The feedback collected clearly showed that InsurTech Hub Munich has found its firm position as the leading InsurTech network.

FURTHER STATEMENTS

“Pairing up the Demo Day of our W1 Forward Accelerator program with DIA provided our startups with an exceptional platform. They were able to present their products to an audience of more than 1,000 highly targeted InsurTech experts. As a result they’ve got extremely valuable contacts to investors, corporate partners, industry leaders as well as international peer startups. All this reflects very nicely what the InsurTech Hub Munich and WERK1 are all about: connecting the dots”.

Dr. Florian Mann, CEO WERK1

“InsurTech Hub Munich and DIA: What a great event where many new insurance ideas have come into our view. We are completely satisfied. The live presentations as well as the direct exchange were great. 35 business cards and about 50 vital discussions at the stand are the best witnesses. ”
Andreas Gensch, CEO und Co-founder treefin AG

“We deliberately chose Munich as the venue for the DIA. According to our database, Munich is already the de facto Insurtech capital of the world. With the now participating Insurtech Hub Munich, it is certain that the central position will be further expanded. ”
Roger Peverelli und Reggy De Feniks, DIA Gründer

Quelle: 29. November 2017 von Christian Krause auf www.insurtech-munich.com

November 29, 2017 Oliver HalbigW1 - InsurTech

SUCCESSFUL WORK AT THE W1 FORWARD INSURTECH ACCELERATOR: RECAP OF THE DEMO DAY 2016

WERK1 - InsurTech Accelerator - Demo Day 2016 - Teaser

Just a couple of months ago five finalists began their hard and very successful work at the W1 Forward InsurTech Accelerator. As you might remember, the W1 Forward InsurTech Accelerator is hosted at WERK1 and supported by insurance companies, namely Allianz, ARAG, Die Bayerische, Generali, HUK-Coburg, LV1871, Munich RE, Nürnberger, Swiss RE, VKB.

So no wonder the Technikum, just a few steps away from WERK1, was crowded by some illustrious guests from bavarian politics, top executives from the insurance industry and of course a lot of founders and startup people. More than 150 guests were welcomed at the first ‚W1 Forward InsurTech Demo Day‘ excited to see what the startups were about to present.

After a short and enjoyable speech highlighting the ’small wonder‘ of bringing together the supposedly old fashioned insurance industry with fast paced and agile startups, Franz Glatz welcomed Bavarian Minister of Economics Ilse Aigner and the co-initiators on the stage. She ran through a short, but pithy speech about Bavaria having the right, if not the best ecosystem for founders and startups.

This was followed by more speeches: First there were Dr. Robert Heene of VKB and Torsten Jeworrek of Munich Re. Who were involved in the very early days of the W1 Forward InsurTech Accelerator. Again it was about the culture clash between the slow moving insurance world and the vivid startup scene. However, as Dr. Heene pointed out, the industry is learning fast: It took just ten days from the first draft to the final proof of the W1 Forward InsurTech contract. They also enjoyed working with the startups in workshops and mentoring.

Finally, Bavarian State Secretary Franz Josef Pschierer shared his current mission of the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs: Driving forward the digitization of society and economy by – among others – creating the best environment for startups. He stated our work and how initiatives such as W1 Forward Accelerators help creating those environments.

Eventually the stage was for the startups and with the first pitch the highlight of the evening started. We’ve noted down a short recap and quotes.

Snapsure

What they pitched: An insurance bot and an AI platform which allows the insurance industry to generate customized and instant offers based on image informations. Insurers can integrate Snapsures white label API into their front ends like customer apps, broker apps, marketplaces, interactive ad banners or sales campaigns.

Best quote on stage: ‚Insurances are complicated, incomprehensible, old-fashioned and unsexy. We want to change this with Snapsure!‘

Minnosphere

What they pitched: A ‚Next Generation Underwriting‘ (NGUW) System which simplifes and improves the existing insurance underwriting processes. The innovative solution combines the power of machine learning algorithms and business rules. The aim of NGUW is to convert big data into automatic decisions.

Best quote on stage: ‚Finally, when you managed to get an Insurance, then we should call it a relationship. But i dare to say, that insurances don’t have relationships with their customers and vice versa.‚

MotionsCloud

What they pitched: A mobile and artificial intelligence claims solutions for non-life insurers and claims handling companies with the aim to reduce claim cycle time, claim expenses and and also to improve customer experience at the point of claim. A customer centric mobile AI solution to settle insurance claims that meet the customer expectations in the digital world.

Best quote on stage: ‚The point of claim is the point of pain!‚

Leonhard-MacDonald Ventures

What they pitched: A B2B SaaS solution called AdaEngine. A lightning fast real-time big data analysis and prediction tool. The AdaEngine turns insurance and financial analysts into data scientists by enabling them to build AI powered real-time modelling and simulation applications from Excel spreadsheets.

Best quote on stage:‚Our future gives you the latest Big Data technologies and advanced AI and Machine Learning algorithms to make your prediction and forecasting easier and more fun and more timely.‘

Nect – Smart Digital Identity

What they pitched: Nect, a single, verifed digital ID for customers which will be globally usable across insurers, to securely log in, sign up, send or receive encrypted Data and also making one click insurance possible. But Nect also aims for other industries which shall lead to data transaction possibilities across industries, opening up ways for new business opportunities and innovative insurance products.

Best quote on stage:‚I can say it in an other way: I can‘t remember all these shitty passwords. Do you know the most used menu point on customer care portals? Yes, it’s ‚I forgot my password!‘‘

So what is the conclusion? Well, all pitches were remarkably professional and everyone agreed that the five finalists are bound to be successful.

And how did the startups benefit besides coachings and support of the accelerator? During the Q&A session after the pitches all startups seemed to agree on one point: Without the W1 Forward InsurTech Accelerator they would never ever have gotten the deep industry contacts they acquired during the last few months. This alone seemed to be worth it.

Of course there was more than just speeches and pitches. Afterwards there was enough time for having a drink or two and of course for networking. Also each of the five finalists had a small booth where visitors could watch demos of the various solutions and have chat with the founders. At the end everyone experienced an interesting and valuable evening.