There’s been a crazy amount of report downloads, plenty of noise on socials, and a bunch of client workshops. All good.
Huge congrats to the 100 amazing businesses that made the Signal50 and Scale50. A big thanks to all the judges and interviewees who got involved. And huge love to Team Sønr for all their hard work.
We’re going to continue with this format into 2026.
If you’d like to get involved, want to get deeper into the trends/companies relevant to you, or think it’s something you’d like us to present to your wider team:
Right, after a hectic few weeks on the road/in the air, I’m officially back in the land of the living.
In reverse order:
New Zealand
What an amazing place. Genuinely loved it.
I was invited over to share insights from our Beyond Boundaries study at Resonate, a conference organised by Simfuni.
For more deets on the trip, the NZ market, and my budding bromance with Shaun Quincey, you can read more here. Oh, and I had dinner with a Dame (and her dog) whilst out there. That was a super fun evening.
Vegas
Well, ITC certainly didn’t disappoint.
As part of the Advisory Board it’s a privilege to see all the incredible hard work that goes into creating such a unique and impressive event. Congrats again to all the team.
I felt there was a real sense of positivity through the conversations I had.
Capital appears to be back. Open innovation is now more valued by incumbents than ever. And there was a real sense of opportunity and desire to move the industry forward. That’s got to be a good thing!
A big thanks to those who joined both up on stage and in the room. It’s been an honour to dedicate so much time and energy to the study and it’s a great output.
Geneva/Chamonix
This one was less work, more play.
A trip to Geneva for the Hyrox Pro Doubles with a few pals.
The good news – even with stitches in the knee (I fell on a run a few days before 🤦♂️) – my doubles partner and I managed to qualify for the World Champs in June.
Hopefully this’ll keep Fat Matt at bay for a little longer still 😬
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Right, let’s get into your fortnightly innovation boo-letin.
Haunt of the press.
🧟♂️ The Return of the Living Core
No-code tech company INSTANDA has secured a $20m investment to accelerate its next phase of growth.
This one is interesting for me, as in 2022 they pulled in $45m so not wholly sure why the smaller raise. It might be simply down to the fact they’re entering a new phase – 40% CAGR and profitable.
No more ‘growth at all costs’.
Rather, a shift from ‘volume to value’.
Another notable raise came from Liberate, a rapidly growing AI crew transforming how insurance carriers and agencies operate.
It has announced a $50m Series B.
Here’s one that deserves a spotlight.
Aviva Ventures has taken a strategic stake in Indico Data – the Boston-and-London-based firm tackling an ever-growing headache: unstructured data.
Indico’s moved beyond data extraction into agentic decisioning – an AI layer that ingests, enriches, and routes information before acting on it. It’s a step-change from most of the assistive tools carriers are currently piloting.
The results are pretty decent too: clients are seeing 80% faster processing, 4× more submission capacity, and major gains in accuracy.
Plus great to see Aviva’s innovation chief Arslan Hannani joining the board – a definite signal of strategic intent.
Finally, a bit of M&A goodness.
Big news with Guidewire announcing it is acquiring ProNavigator – the knowledge management platform designed for P&C.
🧪 The Laboratory Awakens
An interesting read this week was Zurich’s launch of the Zurich AI Lab.
It’s designed to accelerate the development of scalable solutions that address real-world insurance challenges and “redefine” what customers can expect from their insurer.
Nice.
I look forward to seeing this one evolve, as I’m sure many insurers will be too!
And on the big money spend…
Nationwide just announced a whopping $1.5bn investment to fast-track its AI transformation.
The plan spans infrastructure modernisation, customer experience, and generative AI integration – all aimed at sharpening competitiveness and unlocking long-term efficiency.
A big, bold commitment from one of the industry’s stalwarts and another signal that the scale of tech investment is only heading one way ⬆️
👻 Updates: Spells, Scales & Startups
We only launched Beyond Boundaries a couple of weeks ago.
And already there’s been a bunch of updates to the cohorts featured.
Signal50
OpenDialog – an AI Agent platform transforming customer journeys – has launched Rhea.
Rhea’s an AI-powered re-engagement agent designed to help insurers recover customers who abandon their quote process before completion.
UK-based Previsico, which specialises in live flood alerts, has closed its Series A, setting the stage for a major expansion push.
Eir, a fully digital Swedish insurance company specialising in embedded non-life insurance, secured €20m growth funding.
And Kalepa, a company specialising in AI-powered underwriting solutions, has entered into a partnership with AmRisc, a catastrophe-focused MGA in the US.
Love it.
Do check these companies out. They are super exciting businesses.
Scale 50
And on the more established side:
The French health-insurtech Alan has reported €523m in signed ARR (up 44% YoY) and over 710k members across four countries. Good work.
Their shift from insurer to health-platform is taking shape – coverage, care, wellbeing – all bundled.
Akur8 has announced the launch of Rate Repo and Deploy – two new additions to its pricing suite.
And bolttech and AXA Partners have announced a long-term strategic partnership aimed at expanding embedded insurance and assistance solutions across the European Union, the UK, and Switzerland.
New investments are off the table, with the portfolio being folded into MEAG – the Group’s asset-management arm. And from here on, innovation sourcing and execution will sit closer to the core businesses. Not out on the fringe.
It’s one of the big themes in Beyond Boundaries – a very real shift from exploratory CVC to strategic alignment, where startup engagement has to create measurable business value.
And it’s an important one.
It’ll change how incumbents scout and engage startups, their roles as investors and LPs, and the impact this will have on the wider VC space.
For what it’s worth, I think it’s a pretty positive one all round.
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Right, I’m done.
Woah, wait. Nearly done.
If you’ve been following our interview series with innovation leads around the world, we’ve got two absolute gems for you.
Both clients of Sønr.
Both exceptional humans.
And both driving innovation within huge businesses.
Second up I got to speak with Marcin Kurczab, Head of Innovation & AI at PZU – one of the largest insurers across Poland and Central and Eastern Europe.
Enjoy these.
Super interesting, super valuable content.
Right, a weekend of indulgent family time ahead.
And maybe a trip or two to the gym 😬
