One on cutting through the AI noise, the other on building real innovation scale inside a global bank. Different angles, both packed full of insight.
And as you might have gathered from the image above, both, great fun.
100% worth a watch if you missed them.
Right, let’s get into the good stuff…
Lemonade Still Pouring
Lemonade has posted its Q2 2025 numbers.
They’re not bad.
$1.08bn IFP, up 29% YoY
Europe up >200%, now 20%+ of net new customers
Loss ratio: 67% – a 12pt improvement
$25m adjusted free cash flow, 10x YoY
Gross profit up 109% YoY
Yesterday’s Shai Wininger podcast is also worth a listen.
It’s mostly in Hebrew, but there’s a short English section where he demos their in-production AI voice customer service tool.
🎙️Tune in at 35:40
From the synopsis, he also shares that they’ve moved their entire development team to working in Cursor and makes the case their roles are about to change from “builders” to “supervisors.”
Interesting right?
Sounds like a great conversation.
On that note, the latest Lemonade update is the expansion of its UK homeowners offering with a new buildings-only product.
With $133m GWP already this year and a target of $277m by December, they’re well on their way. Looks like a decent move bringing on some growth capital at a time when usage-based, real-time underwriting is ticking up.
On the partnership front QBE has got together with Matrix iQ, tapping into vehicle and driver behaviour data to strengthen their business insurance offering.
Love this kind of data-led partnership. It’s fast becoming table stakes and can make a real dent in pricing precision and risk selection.
Finally, GM Insurance is now live in Florida, expanding its telematics-led personal auto coverage to one of the country’s most competitive markets.
With embedded distribution and deep vehicle data, they’ve got a solid foundation. Will be interesting to watch how customers respond as they roll out further.
Underwriting (Now With More GPT)
A quick one on underwriting.
UK-based Novee AI has landed £1.6m pre-seed to build a generative AI platform for commercial and specialty underwriting.
It’s early, but timely. As insurers move from proof-of-concepts to live use cases, tools that can streamline submission handling and pre-bind workflows are attracting attention… and investment.
Cyber: Back in the Money
A couple of cyber investments this week.
Early stage DynaRisk, the London-based cyber risk management startup, raised £3.5m to accelerate product development and global expansion.
With SMEs and individuals facing growing exposure – and limited tools – this is a space crying out for practical, usable solutions.
And further down the road, Safe Security raised a $70m Series C.
Safe is rolling out what it calls the world’s first fully autonomous CTEM platform – Continuous Threat Exposure Management. Catchy.
Their broader ambition? A CyberAGI platform – it’s a bold vision, but they’ve built serious traction with enterprises and partners, so why not?
Health: Getting More Personal
Switching modes and into health.
On investments, Hesta Health has launched with £2m pre-seed.
Their focus is on postnatal care – the first step in what they describe as a broader women’s health platform. With a still-underestimated gap in postnatal support, there’s real potential here.
dacadoo has partnership news with their Microsoft collab – bringing Azure’s AI Foundry into their health engagement platform. Nice.
This means generative and agentic AI powering personalised health nudges, scoring, and recommendations. A good fit, and one that could drive smarter customer journeys for their life and health partners.
And last but not least, WTW has teamed up with Klarity, a UK health data analytics firm.
The plan is to integrate wearable and behavioural data into life insurance underwriting. The upside – more accurate risk scoring and a better experience for customers who are increasingly used to digital health tracking in everyday life.
M&A: Scaling With Intent
A couple of interesting acquisitions from the big boys this week. Big boys? Big people? Incumbents. Let’s go with incumbents.
AXA is picking up 51% of Prima Assicurazioni for €500m, locking in a decent position in Italy’s direct motor market.
Prima pulled in €1.25bn in premiums last year and is now one of the country’s top five players.
AXA’s got a call/put option for the rest of the business down the line, but even as it stands, this gives them immediate scale, tech, and brand presence in a market that’s heating up. Nice.
It’s a sharp strategic play – bolstering MGA capabilities and deepening reach into the startup and SME space.
Market reaction is split: there’s praise for pricing discipline and niche focus, but familiar gripes about service remain. If Hiscox can integrate Corix’s digital-first model without losing what makes both sides work, this could quietly reshape its US footprint.
An ITC Vegas Invitation
As many of you know, we’ll be launching the Beyond Boundaries study on October 15th at ITC Vegas.
What you might not know is that I have the genuine honour of serving on ITC’s Advisory Board – which not only gives me a front-row seat to shaping the event, but also lets me share a special VIP rate with you.
