Sønr 2.0 pilots, Dec Summit & Tokio’s $10bn M&A drive

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2 weeks in the UK.
No London. Just Bristol.

Lush.

Sunday I’m back to New York. Recharged and genuinely cannot wait. From an all-day [secret project] workshop with one client, to breakfasts, lunches, dinners and coffees with others.

Three things to know about this week:

Sønr 2.0 – Pilots start in January

We’ve spent the last decade helping insurers see what’s next.

Sønr 2.0 is going to be a huge part of this continued journey – a platform that fuses AI, data, and human insight to deliver the clearest, most connected view of innovation in insurance.

It’s truly a beautiful thing.
And it’s going to be outrageously valuable to the entire ecosystem. This I don’t doubt.

Behind the scenes, it runs on specialist AI Agents trained on ten years of insurance intelligence, powered by our proprietary dataset and backed by human-in-the-loop experts who make sure every answer can be trusted.

It brings your internal research and external intelligence together in one place – building on what your organisation already knows, learning with every query, and compounding in value over time.

Not just faster research.
It’s all intelligence that gets smarter with you.

We’re working with a select group of companies to pilot Sønr 2.0 from January onwards.

We’d love you to be part of this.
Join the waitlist at sonr.global/2-0

Sønr Summit – Save the Date

In just under a month’s time, we’re bringing together a small group of clients and industry peers for the first Sønr Summit – a space designed for open conversation and connections, hosted by our friends at Chaucer Group.
9th December – Chaucer Group Offices, Lime Street, London

You’ll hear from our very own Emily Peters as well as Freddie Scarratt (Gallagher Re), Nigel Walsh (ServiceNow) and Arslan Hananni (Aviva), as we explore the latest shifts in technology and emerging risk across the market.

This is not one to miss.

No vendors.
No sales pitches.
Just good old-fashioned human conversation. And maybe a Christmas tipple.

Invites will be heading out shortly.

If you don’t receive an invite but fancy using this as the perfect excuse to get to London for the Christmas lights, you can register your interest here.

Beyond Boundaries – 2025 > 2026

A quick one on this.
Mostly to say thanks for all the love and support.

Thousands of people have now accessed the report.
Tens of thousands have engaged with it across socials.

We’re continuing with it across 2026, going deeper on certain parts of the industry and continuing our interviews with innovation leaders from around the world.

On that note, I caught up with Sastry Durvasula, Chief Operating, Information & Digital Officer of TIAA – the interview dropped this week.

A seriously impressive guy.

We talk a LOT (in a good way!) about AI, the need to measure outcomes (not pilots), and designing with empathy for customers navigating complex financial decisions.

I can’t recommend it enough.
Reinventing TIAA: AI, innovation, and transformation

If you’d like to get involved in Beyond Boundaries, drop me a line.
If you’d like to get your brand involved in sponsoring 2026, I’m all ears.

–

Right, it’s time to get on with some market news.

Thanks for getting this far.

Life & Health: From IPOs to better care

Big moves on both sides of the Atlantic this week.

Exzeo Group – the Tampa-based insurance tech co, made its NYSE debut, pulling in a chunky $168m IPO and landing at a $1.9bn valuation.

It’s the biggest listing we’ve seen in a while.

Not a wild first-day pop (flat close), but the message is clear: serious back-office tech still sells.

While we’re on the subject of good old-fashioned risk management…

Milu Health has partnered with Tokio Marine HCC – Accident & Health Group to help self-funded employers actually see what’s going on with their people’s health.

Milu’s platform mines EHR data to flag major risks early and connect patients to the right care.

A smart play and a strong example of insurers leaning into prevention more and more.

Telematics is growing up

Allianz UK has announced a new partnership with Ticker, the connected motor MGA. Think black boxes and behavioural pricing.

Allianz gets data and distribution. Ticker gets a heavyweight underwriting partner.

Nice.

Wildfire risk gets an upgrade

FutureProof Technologies has agreed to acquire Terrafuse AI, the wildfire risk analytics company.

It’s a nice match – Terrafuse brings the climate data and ML-driven risk maps; FutureProof brings the underwriting platform.

The result: hyper-local wildfire risk scores built directly into pricing and coverage.

Exactly the kind of deal that shows where property and climate data are heading – from advisory add-on to underwriting core. 🔥

From coverage to counterattack

Cyber continues to blur the line between insurer and tech vendor.

Coalition, one of this year’s Scale 50, has snapped up Wirespeed, a six-person team behind a lightning-fast MDR (managed detection and response) engine.

It’s another signal of how fast this space is converging.

Just this week, Tokio Marine announced plans for a $10bn global M&A push, specifically eyeing acquisitions that bring cybersecurity expertise into the group.

Insurers aren’t just pricing cyber risk anymore – they’re building (or buying) the tech to actively defend against it.

The line between insurance and incident response?
Pretty much gone.

Zurich turns up the AI

Zurich Insurance UK is levelling up its fraud defences with Quantexa, yet another Scale 50 company, becoming the first insurer to roll out its decision-intelligence platform across lines.

The system delivers real-time fraud detection and a unified claims view, moving beyond static rule sets toward AI-based decisioning.

It’s a scalable, operationally significant step in the broader shift toward data-driven automation across insurance.

Smart contracts meet real-world logistics

Otonomi.ai has raised $5m Series A to scale its blockchain-enabled cargo-delay insurance platform.

The company uses smart contracts to automate pay-outs when shipments are delayed, cutting what used to take weeks down to minutes.

By bringing real-time data and automation into marine and cargo cover, Otonomi’s creating one of the most tangible examples yet of blockchain delivering real value in insurance.

A solid step forward for parametric and digital-first risk solutions. 🚢

Commission controls

Fintary – the platform that helps insurers untangle the chaos of revenue growth and commission management, has secured a tidy $10m Series A.

The pitch: automate revenue ops, simplify complex comp, and help carriers stop leaking margin in spreadsheets.

It’s not sexy (well kinda sexy if that’s your thing), but it’s the kind of tech that makes a material difference to the numbers.

–

One of the Best

A big shout out to Dr Hayley Maynard, now Chief Strategy Officer at Atrium, who’ll be speaking on The Camelot Innovation Hour, hosted by Harvey Wade on 28th Nov.

We’ve worked with Hayley for years – first at Chaucer, now at Atrium – and she’s genuinely one of the sharpest, most forward-thinking people in the industry.

It’s going to be a cracking session on how strategy drives innovation.

Definitely worth tuning in 👇

–

Right, New York next week.
Shout me if you’re in town.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

SøNws is brought to you by Sønr.

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Sønr helps (re)insurers around the world explore market trends, track competitor activity, and scout and assess best-in-class tech companies.

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