Insurtech continues to blossom

Willis Towers Watson’s briefing also noted that, during the third quarter of 2019, funding totals exceeded $1.2 billion, making it the fifth consecutive quarter-year period in which this number was surpassed.

Q3 of this year saw a total of 83 deals announced, with a total value of $1.5 billion, up six per cent compared with the previous three-month period. The number of deals was up by 20 per cent.

Looking more broadly at the first three quarters of 2019, insurtech companies have seen a total of $4.36 billion funneled into their coffers through 239 transactions, a five-per-cent increase compared with the total amount of investment recorded over 2018 – and, of course, the year is not out yet.

“The continuing rise in insurtech investment acknowledges the enormous role technology has to play in our industry, but we need to avoid becoming a sector jaded and frustrated by it,” commented Dr Andrew Johnston, Willis Re’s Global Head of Insurtech. “Today’s insurtech is as much about hype and entrepreneurial culture as it is about appropriate technology for the (re)insurance industry. 

“Insurtech’s greatest achievement to date has been to act like a defibrillator on the heart of the insurance industry. People across the sector now talk more positively about the use of technology. Some see it as the potential saviour of a broken system.”