Dr Dre, Hyrox and degenerative AI

No preamble.
Let’s dive in.

2 pods, Dr Dre and AXA

An upcoming car journey? A dog walk? A quiet Friday afternoon 🤷

Two podcasts well worth a listen:

1. Profit through Sustainability

Another belter of an interview with Danilo Raponi of Generali. He and Jonas Piela talk through, in English no less, a whole world of great topics.

From innovation and sustainability, to positive social impact and technically beautiful products.

Favourite quote: ‘Innovation is losing money now to make money later’ 🚀🚀

Well worth a listen. Nice work gents.

2. The Power of Alignment

This time it’s Stephen Barnham of Dai-ichi Life and Sam Fromson one of the founders of YuLife.

There’s also a spotlight on collaborative success being rooted in shared values and the ability to connect at a human level. Something that comes through loud and clear in the conversation.

3. Dr Dre, Simon Sinek and AXA 

Finally, what do Dr Dre, Simon Sinek and Rose Hall of AXA have in common?

That’s right, they’re all (kinda) involved in AXA’s Digital Commercial Platform (DCP).

AXA’s DCP is supporting risks related to natural disasters, wildfire, cyber threats, supply chain, geopolitical risks, climate change, moving assets, and plenty more.

If you’re exploring new and emerging risks (let’s hope you are – there’s plenty on this in today’s SøNws!), it’s a great read.

Right, let’s get into SøNws.

Having spent far too much of my morning in meetings it might be a quick race through. Apologies.

Keeping with the emerging risk vibe, Aon Reinsurance Solutions has launched its Impact Forecasting’s US Hurricane v3.0 model.

One of the key innovations is its adjusted-rate view, developed in collaboration with Columbia University. This feature captures shifts in the occurrence of tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Basin that may result from climate change. Nice.

And not wanting to segway into a Sønr plug but there’s some big news between Sønr and Columbia University coming in the next few weeks. Watch. This. Space.

This covers shipping ports and terminals against revenue loss due to disruptions like vessel sinkings or natural disasters. This facility can be purchased independently or as an add-on to existing coverage, and it’s backed by top-rated insurers.

The growing threat of Gen AI, deepfakes, cyber and Oasis

A couple of weeks back Experian released its 2024 U.S. Identity and Fraud Report. 

Lo and behold GenAI, deepfakes and cyber are all critical threats putting intensifying pressures on businesses.

Whilst companies are enthusiastically adopting Gen AI, they’re also increasingly worried about its potential for fraud. And despite this, investment in Gen AI fraud prevention is lagging behind other security priorities.

It’s a great read.

On the deepfake side, I saw a couple of interesting tech plays this week.

pi-labs.ai, a startup focused on AI-powered deepfake detection and Finacus Solutions, a company specialising in banking technology, have joined forces to develop a new e-KYC (electronic Know Your Customer) solution.

Super interesting this. Until I read more about it I hadn’t given a huge amount of thought to the opportunity/risk of deepfakes is KYC.

pi-labs’ AI tools will complement Finacus’ existing manual authentication process, creating a pretty sophisticated hybrid system that merges humans with AI-driven insights and ensure some top security.

Another was IdentifAI, an Italian startup, using ‘degenerative’ (everyday is a school day) artificial intelligence to detect content created by generative AI.

These guys have just landed a €2.2m Seed round.

Milan-based IdentifAI aims to ‘empower every individual, citizen, consumer, and political or business decision-maker with the ability to clearly distinguish between content created by AI and that crafted by human creativity’.

Love it.

I could have used it to check the photos of my last Airbnb when visiting Generali. 😳

On the cyber side, two things.

Firstly Copenhagen-based Uniqkey has secured €5.35m to enhance its efforts in ‘fortifying European cybersecurity’. I like the sound of this.

Uniqkey specialises in password management solutions designed for businesses, offering a secure and efficient way to manage digital identities.

The extension is being offered in response to demand from brokers and clients for accessible and comprehensive event cancellation coverage. With this product, policyholders also receive a unique post-binding cyber scanning service which provides a scan of the event organiser’s website to identify vulnerabilities.

If only it could have helped Oasis’s fans and their Dynamic pricing issues.

The opportunity is real. As is the struggle.
Welcome to India’s rapidly growing health market

If you’re free on Thursday 19th September, you have two options.

1. Tune in to dacadoo’s upcoming webinar on the Indian digital health market and platform economy
2. Join me for a drink before/during the Insurance Times Tech and Innovation Awards 2024

Actually, with the time difference, you can do both 🙂

Ever since taking BGL Group over to India on an innovation immersion a few years back, I’ve had a soft spot for the place. There is SO MUCH opportunity out there.

The dacadoo webinar is a deep dive into India’s booming digital health sector, featuring insights from Professor Rajendra Pratap Gupta of Health Parliament and Peter Ohnemus, Founder & CEO of dacadoo.

Keeping with India, it’s not always so easy.

Last week we learnt of Mumbai’s Kenko Health formally shutting down its operations.

Having raised $13.7m in funding, the company’s downfall was linked to its inability to obtain a critical insurance license from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai).

The startup has not paid salaries to its employees for the last few months and is now facing legal action from creditors. Never a good place to be.

European embedded plays

A few months back I was asked to moderate a fireside chat with Mark Dennis of Wakam and Quentin Colmant of Qover.

Wakam has been a much-loved client of Sønr’s for years and I’ve been friends with Mark since his Munich Re days. And I kinda knew Qover but not brilliantly.

Firstly, if you haven’t seen the interview, it’s a great insight to what makes a partnership work.

This collaboration aims to streamline the payment experience for customers by integrating HSBC’s global banking capabilities and Numeral’s payment automation technology. Nice.

In turn this will enable faster claims payouts, reducing delays, improving customer sat and all the good stuff.

Another embedded play I clocked was Omio – a platform for booking trains, planes, buses, and ferries.

It has partnered with Companjon, the Dublin-based embedded insurer, to serve as risk carrier, underwriter, and policy manager for the ‘cancel for any reason’ solution.

A global wrap up

And now for four bits of news I couldn’t find a home for 🤷

First, it was great to see Tokyo-based Creattura, a carbon credit trading platform, securing JPY 350 million (US$2.4m) in a Series A that included Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital.

I think the reason I like this so much is the Japan connection.

We spend so much of our time working with Japanese insurers, helping them scout tech and innovation from around the world. Creattura however is home-grown. And that’s a very good thing for the future of Japanese tech and I’m sure we’ll be seeing more and more of this over the coming years.

Sønr helps insurers source and connect with best in class investment, acquisition and partnership opportunities. It works with nearly 50 insurers around the world – including Generali, Travelers, WTW, RGA, QBE and Tokio Marine.

It combines a SaaS market intelligence platform, which tracks 3+ companies globally, with a team of researchers, analysts and consultants, which is available on demand 24/7. It also hosts a suite of innovation management tools designed for teams to better collaborate and track scouting, PoCs and investment activity.

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