It is only the second virtual Lloyd’s Lab to be run and this time the ten selected insurtechs will focus on pandemic solutions 

Lloyd’s Lab innovation accelerator programme has selected ten new insurtechs, all with a Covid-19 pandemic focus, for its fifth cohort.

The new cohort specialises in providing solutions to the market to respond to the pandemic and will begin on the 7 September 2020.

The final ten were selected from more than 140 applications from around the world, after presenting their ideas in a competitive process during a virtual pitch day on 29 July.

They will join Praedicat, Metabiota and Dialogue – the three teams that were selected in June – to work on Lloyd’s Covid-19 response.

This is only the second Lloyd’s Lab that has been entirely virtual.

Trevor Maynard, head of innovation at Lloyd’s, said: “This cohort of Insurtechs will play an important role in our response to the Covid-19 pandemic and to help us develop the new models and insurance products of the future. We will undoubtedly need new products and services for insurers to deliver confidence and security against future waves of this pandemic and other systemic risks of the scale we have seen in 2020.

“I’m thrilled to have the best Insurtechs across the globe join the Lloyd’s Lab and look forward to seeing the progress they make. Lloyd’s has thrived on its purpose of sharing risk and it’s as important now as it has ever been to combine minds and build a braver world.”

Three themes

This year the fifth cohort will look at new types of insurance to support the Covid-19 response, helping the Lloyd’s market to assess Covid-19 risks as well as enabling Lloyd’s customers to adapt to a changing workplace.

The insurtechs will focus on three key themes:

  • Data and models
  • New insurance products and markets
  • Response to Covid-19

The ten teams selected for Lloyd’s Lab fifth cohort are as follows:

  • RYSKEX provides a blockchain-based ecosystem for Alternative Rysk Transfers and innovative insurance solutions. Its focus is on uninsurable risks in today’s insurance environment. (Berlin, Germany)
  • Hivemind Technologies provides a software platform for managing human-in-the-loop data preparation. Its newest product, AGORA, is a tool for eliciting and aggregating expert judgements using a prediction market mechanism. (Oxford and London, United Kingdom)
  • Geollect is an agile geospatial intelligence and analysis company, providing dynamic insights for decision support to a network of global clients in the defence, maritime insurance and cruise industries. (Bristol, United Kingdom)
  • KnowRisk is a consortium of companies bringing the insurance and audit industries together for the first time. The platform builds a digital twin of site and supply chain risk by combining insurance, audit and internal company data. (London, United Kingdom)
  • Predata is an artificial intelligence company focused on uncovering predictive behaviours in online activity. The company has built a global comprehensive predictive analytics platform for geopolitical risk, enabling customers with global exposure to discover, quantify, and act upon dynamic shifts in online attention. (New York City, United States)
  • Thimble the business insurance start-up known for its monthly and on-demand policies, is developing a low-limit, first-line-of-defence, parametric contingent business interruption coverage to protect SMBs from Covid-19 and future pandemics. (New York City, United States)
  • Blink Parametric is focused on parametric insurance innovation and transforming the complex products of its insurance and insurtech clients into simple, intuitive, real-time, online services via its customisable platform. (Cork, Ireland)
  • HazardHub provides a comprehensive, detailed set of peril risk and property characteristics is a lightning-fast API. It delivers over 800 characteristics for any location in the US, allowing insurers to better understand the risk of a property before committing to an underwriting decision. (San Diego, United States)
  • Hailios is an internet of things and data analytics company that empowers the insurance industry with real-time, ground truth weather data. It has a tight focus on severe convective storms and an ability to sense multiple characteristics of hailstorms. (Colorado Springs, United States)
  • Inclusivity Solutions designs, builds, operates and innovates digital insurance solutions that enable financial inclusion and address the protection gap in emerging markets. It partners with mobile operators, banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions to deliver simple and affordable insurance cover through mobile phones. (Cape Town, South Africa)

In the Lloyd’s Lab first four cohorts Flock, Parsyl, Layr and ClimaCell have been tipped as success stories so far.

In July, the Lloyd’s Lab ran its first ‘Fusion’ programme, a new three-day event designed to test early-stage start-up ideas aimed at dealing with Covid-19 and other systemic risks. Three of the teams who took part in this, Ryskex, Hivemind and Geollect, have also been successful in their application to the fifth cohort.

Reaction 

Lloyd’s Lab selection has received good feedback. 

Blink’s co-founder and chief executive, Paul Prendergast told Insurance Times: “This has already been a tremendous experience for us and we’re just getting started. The pitch process allowed us to really refine our platform’s potential with an exciting range of commercial solutions and Lloyd’s Lab is going to work with us to accelerate the development and realisation phases by providing us not only with Lloyd’s market access, but with rich historical data, analysis, modelling and testing forums.”

”Our parametric platform’s effectiveness in supporting increasingly Covid-19 prone, high frequency, low severity claims environments was a major success factor in this process so we’re ready to showcase its full potential with this golden opportunity. We also get to collaborate with some of the world’s best minds in insurance innovation, so we are hugely honoured and thrilled to have been selected,” Prendergast added. 

Predata also relayed its excitement on Twitter. 

Read more…Insurtech offering brokers and underwriters PPL alternative sees business boom during Covid-19 crisis

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