RPC Insurtech in brief - January 2022
Welcome to the January edition from RPC of Insurtech in brief, providing you with a handful of snappy monthly updates from the industry.
LeakBot plans London listing in a SPAC deal
LeakBot, an internet of things (IoT) insurtech, has announced plans to go public on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange via a 'SPAC' (special purpose acquisition company) deal. Following a reverse takeover by SPAC, Spinnaker Acquisitions Plc, the new company will be renamed Ondo Insurtech Plc.
LeakBot uses its patented Thermi-Q technology to detect water leaks in buildings and alert building owners. It offers an end-to-end solution via its consumer detection device and app, insurer dashboard and 'Find & Fix' field-service, with the overall aim of reducing water waste and insurance costs.
The company has existing partnerships with nine insurers (including Hiscox and Direct Line) across the US, UK and Scandinavia. If the deal completes, it says it will use the new funding "to finance the roll out and adoption of LeakBot in our target markets where there are some 97 million addressable homes".
The deal will be one of the first SPACs in London since changes to the Listing Rules for SPACs introduced in July 2021, following recommendations from Lord Hill's UK Listing Review report published in March. The changes to the Listing Rules were designed to promote London as an attractive venue for SPAC deals and listings (following a boom in SPAC deals in the US) whilst maintaining strong investor protections.
It is expected the deal will complete later this year following the publication of a prospectus and satisfaction of other conditions.
Ryanair launches partnership with Cover Genius
Europe's largest airline, Ryanair, has entered into a strategic partnership with embedded insurance technology company Cover Genius.
Cover Genius' distribution platform, XCover, will be integrated into Ryanair's booking process, enabling customers to purchase travel protection products and packages conveniently. Ryanair says the products will be tailored to suit each customer's itinerary.
The partnership follows a recent survey by Momentive.ai, which found 42% of travellers would prefer to purchase embedded travel protection directly from travel providers and agents.
Cover Genius offers companies claim settlement technology and analytics, alongside its distribution platforms. It has partnered with a number of household names (including Booking.Com and eBay) and recently raised a US$70million Series C funding round.
Bright Health raises US$750million from Cigna Ventures
US-based health insurtech, Bright Health, has announced it has raised $750million in new funding from Cigna Ventures, the venture arm of insurer Cigna.
The Bright Health Group sells health insurance coverage and Medicare Advantage plans, and runs clinics in the US, using technology to improve the customer and patient experience.
Bright Health says it will use the funding for continued growth, following its IPO in June 2021.
AgentSync hits unicorn status
In more funding news, Agentsync has raised a US$75million Series B round and achieved unicorn status (with a reported valuation of $1.2 billion). The round was led by Valor Equity Partners.
AgentSync was founded in just 2018 and has grown significantly (having raised US$4million in seed funding in August 2020). The company offers 'Compliance-as-a-Service' solutions. Its technology directly integrates regulatory database information with core business systems in order to automate critical business processes associated with compliance requirements in the US.
Insurtech funding levels remained high in 2021. Other funding deals announced in the final quarter of 2021 include: US$255 million by Indian insurtech Acko, US$100million Series A by US-based Slide, a $25 million Series A funding by wildfire risk insurtech Kettle, US$25million by Indonesian insurtech Fuse, and a £12.25m raise by UK SaaS insurtech Genasys.
Lloyd's underwriters launch new 'Product Launchpad'
Lloyds of London underwriters have (re)launched the Lloyds Product Launchpad (formerly the Product Innovation Facility) – a collaborative initiative which is designed to speed up (re)insurance product development.
The programme makes available over £100million of capacity and aims to provide a “safe space” for underwriters to experiment with new ideas and non-traditional risks (such as intangible assets and emerging technologies).
Under previous iterations of the programme, the Launchpad launched two innovative products - a parametric profit protection policy for the hotel industry and Coincover, a dynamic protection product for losses arising from theft of cryptocurrencies held in online wallets.