Where:
x = the number of meetings
y = the number of times I heard about Agentic AI
z = the glasses of wine I drank
Kristoffer – you and the team pulled off a very good conference. It was a brilliant opportunity to catch up with so many friends and clients. Congrats 🙏
The highlight session – a 55-minute roundtable.
Such a simple format.
But you bring the right people together, in the right environment, and so much goodness can come from it. Truly loved it.
Right, let’s get into it.
In fact, maybe we should start with Insurtech Insights who, last week, got bought by US-based, Emerald Holding. I didn’t see that one coming.
It’ll be interesting to see if/how this changes things for next year.
ERGO + Next. BIG news.
Another session I enjoyed this week was a panel on Consolidation – Yesterday’s Promises vs Today’s Reality?
Again, the right people, all experts in their own right.
That’s got to be table stakes, right?
Sadly not always the case.
Mix in the openness to go deep; the willingness to challenge/be challenged; and for each panelist to have the comfort to head off script. Now, that’s what makes for a fun, engaging conversation.
HUGE news for these guys – acquiring NEXT Insurance as part of their US entry. Ooosh 🚀🚀
ERGO’s CEO Dr Markus Rieß had this to say:
“Together with NEXT Insurance, we will tap into a highly attractive market overseas, unlocking significant growth opportunities while further diversifying our existing business portfolio. At the same time, we will work with NEXT Insurance to leverage their cutting-edge technology and our technical excellence, contributing to our commitment to sustainable, profitable growth.”
What else, what else?
Another bit of consolidation was the news from Laka.
These guys have acquired Luko’s e-scooter business from Allianz Direct in France. Their 3rd acquisition in 18 months.
PZU Ready for Startups
It’s pretty terrible to say but I knew very little about PZU until a couple of years back. Until we started working with them 🙃
They’re a super impressive, innovative bunch – ahead of many/most in their innovation journey. And their recent report covers their approach to collaborating with startups and is a great (and impressive) reference for any company exploring Open Innovation.
A comprehensive analysis on Australia’s insurtech sector, exploring the difficulties entrepreneurs face in raising capital to finding early adopters within the Australian insurance industry.
Better still, all the data was provided by yours truly. Well, Sønr. Same, same.
Startup. Dot. AI
.com has gone.
.ai is here.
Three this week. Not much in common, aside from the obvious.
I like these guys. They specialise in AI solutions for regulatory compliance, aiming to automate and streamline compliance processes across various industries.
The company’s platform converts complex regulations into AI agents which can make autonomous compliance determinations – reducing the burden of regulatory compliance. Nice.
Maybe not the sexiest but they’ve a big old addressable market. A good one to watch.
KLAIM.AI – which provides a SaaS-based medical claim management and financing platform, has secured $26m.
The investment will help the company enhance its technology infrastructure, expand its client base, and scale its operations across new markets.
Early on their journey, these guys have developed an AI system capable of analysing real-time video from standard car cameras to assess risk.
Whilst on auto, not an .ai company but hey, Nirvana Insurance has landed an $80m Series C.
Nirvana is a tech platform designed to improve commercial fleet safety and efficiency through data-driven underwriting, risk management, and real-time insights.
Special(ty) client news
A couple from the land of specialty.
Artio has secured capacity to transform carbon credit insurance – an area of interest for many of our clients.
And WTW has partnered with Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM) to enhance digital trading through Neuron – a platform conceived in-house and designed to streamline the placement of specialty risks.
The collab will enable brokers to trade risks more efficiently, improving speed, scale, and underwriting flexibility in an evolving insurance landscape. Nice.
Welcome to the new angel investor
Well, I imagine not but I did enjoy this from No Cap – the world’s first AI angel investor.
Artem Goldman, founder of Wonder Family – an agentic e-com brand builder – went from pitch to signed SAFE in just a few days.
In a 3-minute closing call No Cap signed a SAFE, wired $100k, introduced him to five new investors and gave him a candidate for a potential hire. Nice!
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Right, that is me done.
Now it’s time to catch up on a few days of work before a week in Paris 😬
