View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2020/04/09/564320.htm

Lloyd’s Picks 12 Insurtech Startups for Next Cohort of Its Innovation Lab

Lloyd’s has selected 12 insurtech startups to participate in its innovation accelerator, Lloyd’s Lab.

The 12 teams were chosen out of more than 190 applications, received from across the world, for the fourth cohort of the Lloyd’s Lab, which starts on April 27, 2020, said Lloyd’s in a statement.

The 12 teams were selected after presenting their ideas in a competitive process during a virtual pitch day on April 2.

The startups will be focused on four key themes: data and models; new insurance products and markets; the future of transportation, and cyber.

The Lloyd’s Lab, which is part of the market’s commitment “to becoming the most technologically advanced insurance marketplace in the world, has seen more than 500 international insurtechs applying to join the lab in its first two years. (The Lloyd’s Lab began its global search for insurtech talent in June 2018).

Successful insurtech companies join the lab for a 10-week program, where they work with insurers in the Lloyd’s market to develop and test their ideas, using the expertise and experience of their mentors to add value to the Lloyd’s market.

Since the launch of the Future at Lloyd’s strategy, Lloyd’s said, the lab has expanded its scope to promote greater collaboration between Lloyd’s expert underwriters and brokers, customers and capital providers.

The following teams are part of the Lloyd’s Lab cohort four:

• KASKO offers “Insurtech as a Service.” The platform allows insurers, brokers and coverholders to create digital plug-and-play ready insurance products very quickly and cost effectively.
• Skyline is a data and technology focused parametric managing general agent (MGA) for emerging risks and under-protected segments.
• Parametrix creates parametric (index-based) insurance for external service downtime such as cloud outages, network crashes and platform failures. Its products help to close the protection gap in business interruption.
• Kovrr is a platform that enables re/insurers to financially quantify cyber risk.
• BOXX Insurance, a Canadian-based, global MGA, is making it easy for businesses and families to protect themselves from cyber threats by interlocking insurance, big data and technology.
• ArtificialOS is a system of cloud-based modular applications that empowers insurers to extract data from both structured and unstructured sources then validate, augment and utilise it for rapid decision making.
• Previsico offers local and real time surface water flood warnings, tailored to the needs of a range of global insurance customers.
• Space brings a new level of visibility to ground, infrastructure and real-estate deformation/subsidence detection and monitoring that opens completely new capabilities for the insurance, infrastructure and real estate industries.
• Optalitix is an artificial intelligence software company, one of their products enables insurers to convert any desktop model into an API without any infrastructure or code.
• Loadsure is a UK-based insurtech MGA that offers all-risk freight insurance at the click of a button.
• Koffie is an insurance company purpose built for the next generation of transportation. It uses vehicle-specific artificial intelligence models to redefine underwriting, pricing, and loss control and incentivise the adoption of advanced safety technology.
• Orca AI brings technology into the maritime world with the mission to enhance the safety and efficiency of ship operations. It combines data and deep learning to provide a powerful awareness system and smart alarms.

“All 12 of the insurtechs we have selected bring something different and unique,” commented Trevor Maynard, head of Innovation at Lloyd’s.

“I am thrilled to be working with some of the brightest and best talent from the insurtech sector to help the Lloyd’s market develop new ideas that better serve our customers by developing solutions to the problems they face today,” he added.

“As the COVID-19 crisis continues its devastating march around the world it has never been more important for us to pull together, to use our combined resources and creativity to make a difference,” Maynard said.

In the first three cohorts, startups, entrepreneurs and businesses have presented ideas ranging from live-streaming drones to event-based parametric insurance solutions for catastrophic flooding and on-demand insurance for the gig economy.

In 2019, Lloyd’s invested in Layr, a cloud-based platform that helps small businesses buy liability insurance. Lloyd’s said other success stories include:

• Parsyl, which provides an internet-of-things sensor that can help protect sensitive shipments;
• Flock, which uses real time weather, building density, and operating temperatures to understand the risks associated with drone flights; and
• ClimaCell, which uses micro-weather forecasting to help customers reduce their exposure to meteorological events.

Related:

• Praedicat Develops Named Peril Casualty Insurance Product via Lloyd’s Lab
• Lloyd’s Selects 11 Insurtechs to Support Its Future-at-Lloyd’s Project
• Pushing and Pulling Lloyd’s Into the 21st Century
• Lloyd’s Invests in AI Startup Offering Liability Insurance Platform for Small Businesses
• Lloyd’s Launches Digital Distribution Platform Called ‘Lloyd’s Bridge’
• Lloyd’s Lab Begins Global Search for Insurtech Talent
• Lloyd’s Taps L Marks, Boston Consulting to Set Up Innovation Lab