Yesterday we officially launched Beyond Boundaries 2025 – Sønr’s biggest, boldest, most caffeine-fuelled study to date.
Months of interviews. Millions of data points. Weeks of late nights.
All boiled down into one report that maps how innovation’s actually happening across insurance – and the 100 companies leading the charge.
A massive congrats and thanks in equal measure to the folks who joined us on stage, with:
Expert perspectives from James Orchard, Andrew Johnston and John Almasan
Great pitches from Jane Tran – Co-Founder & COO at Sixfold AI and Ori Cohen – Co-Founder & COO at parametrix
A brilliantly fun fireside chat with Heather Wilson – CEO at CLARA Analytics
So what’s actually inside Beyond Boundaries 2025?
Glad you asked.
It’s a biggie – 150+ pages of global insight, data, and stories from the people genuinely shaping what comes next for insurance.
Here’s the quick tour:
🚀 Regional Perspectives – a world tour of innovation across 7 regions, from London to Lagos, Singapore to São Paulo. Each with its own flavour, drivers, and lessons in how insurers are rethinking growth.
🚀 Key Market Trends – the big four shaping everything right now:
🚀How Insurers Are Responding – from “innovation theatre” to measurable impact. For some at least. Think venture clienting, smarter scouting, and open innovation done properly.
Plus case studies from the likes of Aviva, QBE, and Generali showing what good looks like.
And if that wasn’t enough we have…
🚀 The Signal50 + Scale50 – the startups, scaleups and tech co’s redefining insurance.
Hang on, these guys deserve more focus.
Signal50
This year’s Signal50 is a truly incredible list.
Fifty early-stage startups – all Series A or earlier – rewriting the rules of insurance.
As you might expect there’s AI everywhere, but not for the sake of it – think underwriting co-pilots, explainable risk models, autonomous claims handling, even AI-driven climate modelling.
There’s also a definite shift from tech for show to tech that actually delivers.
Lots of climate plays too – carbon credit cover, catastrophe resilience, next-gen parametrics. And a growing current around inclusion and access: startups building for women’s health, low-income households, and underinsured regions.
The vibe?
Confident. Purposeful. Global.
And I like it.
Scale50
If the Signal50 are the sparks, the Scale50 are the fire.
Or something like that.
To be honest at this point I’m not sure I can stay awake much longer, let alone come up with a decent parallelism.
As before, another fifty incredible companies. Just this time, they’ve gone from promising pilots to powering the industry – now embedded inside carriers, brokers, and networks around the world.
There’s maturity in this list. Businesses that have found product–market fit and are doubling down on growth. Lots of AI here too, but this time it’s integrated: intelligent workflows, predictive underwriting, adaptive pricing, automation at scale.
Climate and sustainability remain huge – insurers shifting from risk transfer to risk prevention. And distribution innovation is back in force – embedded, API-first, and frictionless. Nice.
The vibe for these guys?
Focused. Proven. Scaling with intent.
Congrats to all those featured.
And a big thanks to all those who have been involved in the creation and launch of this.
Travel update: I’ve been booked on another flight. That’s the good. The bad is I’ve been downgraded and my luggage has been sent to Hawaii (I’m now going via Houston 🤦).
