Analyzing 2017 filings of startup insurers. This week in insurance tech.
Hi there,
Earlier this month, I was reading the annual Swanepoel Trends Report which reports on the 10 biggest trends facing the real estate industry in 2018.
At the top of the list was increased investment into real estate technology. While previous real estate tech companies focused on updating legacy systems for property management in commercial real estate or building aggregation platforms for residential real estate, the space has since expanded to include a much broader array of technologies and business models.
As Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman writes in the foreword, “(No startup) so far as I know is vying to build another online portal. No company in a decade has tried to do that.”
The continued evolution of real estate technology will have an increasing impact on the insurance industry. Already digital mortgage platforms like Blend and Roostify are integrating with homeowners insurance companies and startups. Property and vacation rental management platforms like Cozy and Vacasa are strikingone-off insurance partnerships. And last week, Qualia, which provides title settlement software and integrates with title insurance providers like Stewart, raised $33M.
Convergence between the worlds of real estate and insurance startups is also happening offline. For example, property developers, landlords, and associations like LeFrak, Stonehenge, and NYC’s Rent Stabilization Association are recommending renters and surety products offered by startups to tenants.
And this is not a US-specific trend. Bloomberg last week reported on Brazil-based startup QuintoAndar, which acts as a broker, guarantor, and property manager. The startup, which partnered with insurer BNP Paribas Cardif in 2015, is solving a big pain point for Brazilian renters by using cheaper insurance to undercut brokers. Meanwhile, Belgium’s leading property website, Axel Springer’s Immoweb.de, recently partnered with Qover to launch insurance products aimed at landlords.
That’s not to say its easy. According to a recent survey, 42% of real estate organizations still use spreadsheets and/or paper in some critical business capacity. And the graphic below from a conference we attended shows just how confusing it can be to navigate partnerships with real estate incumbents.
Still, it appears cross-industry pollination between real estate technology and insurance is still very early in its development. Expect more to come here.
Chubb goes digital in Southeast Asia
Chubb struck a new partnership with Grab as it looks to broaden its growth opportunities in Southeast Asia. As part of the partnership, “the companies will also explore leveraging data technology from Grab’s platform…to offer insurance solutions personalized to the specific needs of different private-hire vehicle drivers in Southeast Asia.”
Recall other recent partnerships by Chubb in Southeast Asia:
DBS Bank: 15-year exclusive bancassurance deal covering Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia and China launched in January 2018. DBS counts 6M customers through its branch and digital distribution network.
Traveloka: In November 2017, the two partnered to offer railroad travel insurance through Traveloka‘s mobile app and website. Traveloka, which raised $350M from Expedia, JD.com, and Hillhouse Capita in July 2017, had previously worked with Chubb in offering travel insurance for airline and hotel ticket reservations since 2015.
Startup insurers
Adrian Jones and Matteo Carbone analyzed the full-year 2017 filings of US-based licensed startup insurers. They also draw on takeaways from the recent past including that startup insurers that have won were active in markets not targeted by incumbents.
