May 25, 2018
According to Willis Towers Watson’s Quarterly Insurtech Briefing, Q1 saw explosive growth in the insurtech sector, attracting interest from investors outside the insurance industry, and driving 155 percent YOY growth.
“Outside capital tends to focus on customer pressure points: cost of the product, ease of access and new or underserved markets,” the report explained. “Independent VCs are sector agnostic and product focused. They use lessons learned in other industries and past investments to change the way the products are manufactured and sold.”
Additionally, the report explored the theory that “incumbents have an advantage over financial capital when the value chain evolves through improvements to legacy systems, yet incumbents rarely win if technology ultimately drives the creation of a new value chain.”
Overall, $724 million of insurtech funding was made available in Q1, a slight increase compared to Q4 2017 and more than double the amount in Q1 2017. The quarter’s 66 transactions represent the highest number ever recorded.