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Hi there,
Here are some quick hits over the last two weeks that caught our eye.
Allstate stays acquisitive: On its recent earnings call, Allstate mentioned that SquareTrade's written premium increased 81.5% to $773M last year. To that end, Allstate has been making acquisitions aimed at bolstering the business. This week, it acquired iPhone repair startup iCracked, presumably to speed up the claims process for device repairs, and in November acquired PlumChoice, which supports consumers and small businesses with technical and cloud setup.
Allstate also acquired employee identity protection firm InfoArmor for $525M in August 2018, which fell under its benefits division.
Insurers driving more strategic dollars into startups: A quick scan on deals over the last two weeks (see bottom) shows heavy participation from insurers including Munich Re, MS&AD, Nationwide, Guardian Life, Hiscox, and others into insurance-related startups. We'll dig into this shift more in a future newsletter.
Term life startups go B2B2C: We're seeing new advisor offerings and partnerships take place and will monitor how this evolves.
Berkshire launches THREE: Another move in the small commercial marketplace as Berkshire looks to roll out a new comprehensive insurance product directly to small businesses this summer. Recall Progressive's move in the space in November.
Join us in June in NYC
We're excited to launch a new conference in parallel with our 4th annual Future of Fintech for the P&C industry on June 11 in NYC.
The conference will be content-rich with a series of firesides focused on strategic topics and themes impacting the P&C industry, ranging from the future of digital mortgage and the freelance economy to cyber risk and telematics.
We've announced the first set of speakers including Assurant CEO Alan Colberg, Blend CEO Nima Ghamsari, and CM Telematics CTO Hari Balakrishnan, and will have many more announcements in the coming weeks.
If you're involved in strategy or innovation in or excited to dig more into the topics above, we hope you'll join us in June. Heavy discounts are available for those who want to attend both FoI and FoF.
Have a great weekend,
Matt
@mlcwong
P.S. We'll cover some of these topics in a slide briefing on Feb. 26. Sign up here.
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CB Insights Hits
Fintech trends to watch in 2019
A data-driven look back at fintech trends in 2018 and exploration of what's ahead in 2019.
Get the report.
The massive digital insurance opportunity in Indonesia
Indonesia is the second-fastest-growing P&C market and the fastest-growing market for life insurance. Here's where insurance tech innovation in Indonesia is happening today and where it's headed next.
Read the post.
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Deals, News, & Perspectives
A curated mix of recent articles on insurance tech financings, exits, hiring, product launches, partnerships, and perspectives.
Deals
Jetty raises $25M. The New York-based startup offers renters insurance, a security deposit alternative, and a lease guaranty option distributed through property manager partners who manage more than 500,000 rental units. Jetty's annual premium run rate is reportedly under $30M.
HousingWire
Duobaoyu raises Series A. The Hangzhou-based startup provides insurance knowledge and consulting services around long-term health insurance. Bertelsmann Asia Investments and ZhenFund are investors.
36kr
Descartes Underwriting raises $2.3M seed. The Waterloo-based startup customizes virtual assistants for insurance companies.
BetaKit
ProNavigator closes $2M seed. The Paris-based MGA startup raised the funds from BlackFin Capital Partners.
Reinsurance News
By (re)insurers
Hiscox leads investment in CoverHound. Chubb, Aflac Ventures, and MS&AD also participated in the investment to online insurance comparison firm. CoverHound has reportedly sold more than 200K policies since launch.
Reinsurance News
Nationwide, MS&AD Ventures invest in Socotra. The San Francisco-based core insurance platform has raised $18M in total funding.
Insurance Journal
Munich Re invests in Inshur. The New York-based commercial auto insurance startup, which focuses on TLC and rideshare drivers, operates in New York and recently launched in the UK.
Intelligent Insurer
MassMutual Ventures invests in Affinity. The San Francisco-based startup provides a dealflow management and relationship intelligence platform.
VentureBeat
Guardian Life, Scor L&H Ventures invest in Human API. The San Mateo-based health data network allows users to share their health data from EHR vendors, labs, pharmacies, and health apps.
PE Hub
News
Allianz partners with Vietnam's FPT on digital insurance. The IT services group with partner with Allianz on a new digital insurance venture in March using FPT's distribution channels and partners.
Nikkei Asian Review
Allstate's SquareTrade acquires iCracked. iCracked is one of the biggest independent repair chains in the US, with operations providing repairs in more than 60 metropolitan areas across the US and Canada.
Apple Insider
MassMutual's LifeScore Labs launches consumer tool. The free online risk scoring tool provides insights to how a life insurer may measure their risk.
MassMutual
Berkshire Hathaway launches THREE. THREE is being billed as a comprehensive insurance product for small businesses that combines multiple coverages, purchasable in one-stop and available directly to small businesses.
Insurance Journal
Nationwide rolls out pay-per-mile in Illinois. The telematics-based auto insurance product targeted at low-mileage drivers. Nationwide previously partnered with TrueMotion and Nexar.
Digital Insurance
Sun Life launches Fullscope RMS. The standalone unit will partner with health plans and other insurance providers to bring new products to market, aimed primarily at helping health carriers get into the stop-loss market.
Think Advisor
Ethos partners with Franklin Madison. The term life insurance startup will make its offering available to 3,500+ financial institutions that Franklin Madison serves.
ThinkAdvisor
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