Latest Tech Headlines
All the headlines from our Tech Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Waymo Cleared to be First in California for Testing Without Backup Driver
Oct 30 2018 // Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo unit on Tuesday became the first company to receive a permit from the state of California to test driverless vehicles without a backup driver in the front seat, the state’s Department of...
AFL Insurance Brokers Finds Good Strategic, Cultural Fit with U.S. MGA Zodiac
Oct 29 2018 // AFL Insurance Brokers, the London-based Lloyd’s broker, was looking for an MGA platform in the United States and found the perfect partner last month when it purchased Zodiac Insurance Services, which specializes in...
Hartford Steam Boiler Completes Acquisition of Industrial Tech Firm Relayr
Oct 26 2018 // Hartford Steam Boiler (HSB), part of Munich Re, announced the close of the acquisition of relayr, Inc., the Berlin-based industrial internet of things technology company. HSB acquired 100 percent of relayr’s shares...
Insurtech Profile: Openly’s ‘Sophisticated’ Digital Experience for Independent Agents
Oct 26 2018 // Keep an eye out for Openly, a new digitally-sophisticated upmarket homeowners insurer catering to independent agents. According to Ty Harris, founder and CEO, Openly will launch in early 2019 in a yet-to-be-announced large...
Insurtech Pie’s Founder Talks About Entry into California Workers’ Comp Market
Oct 25 2018 // Powered by InsuranceJournal.tv Pie Insurance seems to be slicing its way through workers’ compensation markets in state after state. The Washington, D.C.-based insurtech is a direct provider of workers’ comp...
GM Hitting Bumps on $5 Billion Road to Driverless Cars by 2019
Oct 25 2018 // It’s one of the biggest bets going in the world of cars. Since May, General Motors Co. and its Cruise self-driving car unit have landed $5 billion in investment commitments from Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. and...
Marsh Joins with Insurtech Firm Concirrus to Drive Behavioral Analytics in Marine Market
Oct 24 2018 // Concirrus, the London-based insurtech company specializing in marine analytics, announced it has formed a multi-year agreement with insurance broker Marsh. The agreement will see the two companies working together to drive...
The Man Behind the InsureTech Connect Conference Phenomenon
Oct 23 2018 // The 2018 InsureTech Connect (ITC) conference is history. In its short three-year life, the ITC affair has grown from 1,500 to 6,000 attendees. This year, an estimated 500 CEOs were there. “It’s hard to...
Insurtech Profile: Kordinator Adds Empathy to Automated Customer Service
Oct 22 2018 // Automated customer service is a fact of life. In fact, many people are more comfortable sharing personal details with a machine than with a human. But automation must appreciate that not every customer is a 40 year-old...
Google ‘Definitely’ Interested in Other Insurtech Investments Following Applied Systems
Oct 19 2018 // Google is eager to invest in other insurance technology companies well beyond its newly announced minority stake in Applied Systems, a principal investor with the global search engine giant said on Oct. 17. “We...
Merchants Insurance Group’s Winkworth Named to Agents Council for Technology
Oct 19 2018 // Merchants Insurance Group Customer Experience Lead Ginny Winkworth has been named as co-chair of the Customer Experience Work Group of the Agents Council for Technology (ACT), a program of the Independent Insurance Agents...
The Changing Risk and Liability Landscape: New Tech, New Loss Scenarios
Oct 19 2018 // Advancements in technology are changing the risk landscape irrevocably and driving potential big changes in liability, and other insurance, claims activity. The opportunities for business from new technologies such as...
15 Emerging Risks from Policies to Playgrounds, Sandboxes to Scooters
Oct 18 2018 // When insurance experts are asked what they see as the most important emerging risk for the property/casualty insurance industry, their consensus is cyber in some form. While cyber obviously poses tremendous risks, some...
Google Invests in Insurance Agency Software Firm Applied Systems
Oct 17 2018 // Giant Google’s investment arm has purchased a minority stake in Applied Systems, a provider of insurance technology and cloud-based software for independent agencies. The investment in Applied Systems is being made...
Softbank Plans Big Push into Insurance Investments
Oct 16 2018 // Softbank’s Vision Fund plans to pump more money into insurance, a sector it sees as both ripe for disruption and a potential booster for its bigger bets in cars, health and financial services, a Vision Fund executive...
Insurtech Partnerships: What Insurers Want and Get
Oct 15 2018 // Remember the scene in the 1989 movie When Harry Met Sally? During lunch with Harry at a deli, Sally very publicly fakes a wild orgasm. A nearby patron, when asked what she’d like to order, signals in Sally’s...
Insurtech: A Role Model of Innovative Talent Success
Oct 15 2018 // Several years ago, technology announced its intent to rock the insurance industry. Some dismissed the challenge and saw the rise of insurtech as a minor disrupter. But times have changed. Funding is pouring in for major...
Insurtech Pilots and Pivots: Learning by Doing and Undoing
Oct 15 2018 // “If you can’t admit a failure, you’re not an entrepreneur. You are not a good business person. There’s nothing brilliant about what you are doing.” –Mark Cuban Insurtechs are great for...
Insurtech Jumpstart Rolls out Parametric Earthquake Product for Californians
Oct 15 2018 // A firm that wants to make a name for itself as the first parametric insurtech in the U.S. for earthquakes has officially launched in California, over a year after its anticipated original launch date. Jumpstart Insurance...
Berlin Insurtech Startup Simplesurance Sets Sights on U.S. for Future Expansion
Oct 12 2018 // Simplesurance founder and CEO Robin von Hein sat down last year with Insurance Journal’s sister publication, Carrier Management, to discuss the company’s strategy. Based on the edge of Berlin’s trendy...
