INSTANDA was at the
InsurTech Hartford Startup Pitch Night event 19 September 2018, where we supported the event as gold sponsors. Our CEO, Tim Hardcastle, also participated in the pitching session.
Tim attended a number of events in Hartford, CT organized by Insurtech Hartford. Instanda was a Gold Sponsor for these events. This included an invitation-only lunch for select carriers and a small number of vendors hosted by Nassau Re Phoenix. Attendees included AXA XL, Beazley, Travelers, The Hartford, Milliman, and the CT state Insurance Commissioner and her deputy. It is worth noting that each state has a Department of Insurance (DOI) headed up by a commissioner. The DOI is responsible for regulating insurance in every state and approving all admitted products that are sold by carriers. They are taking a keen interest in Insurtech and how it is impacting the changes in the way insurance is bought and sold.
The afternoon was spent at AXA XL meeting representatives of some of their internal teams and informing them about Instanda. In the evening we participated in Insurtech Hartford’s Pitch Night where we were joined by 8 other Insurtech companies doing 5-minute pitches to an audience of over 100 comprising representatives from P&C, Life, Health insurers and other interested parties. This was great visibility for Instanda as not only were we a sponsor, but Tim also did an excellent pitch. He concluded his presentation by announcing that Instanda would be taking an office at Upward Hartford, similar in concept to our WeWork location in London. Upward Hartford is the base for at least 6 Insurtech’s along with being the home of the Startupbootcamp Insurance Accelerator in the US. The lease is now signed and we will be taking occupancy at the beginning of October.
Tim also attended the
Strategy Meets Action (SMA) Annual Summit in Boston
earlier in the month. The summit focused on the fast-changing pace of the market as more and more carriers engage in digital initiatives. Presentations were made by various carriers who have achieved success with digital innovation projects and various awards were made to carriers and Insurtech vendors as judged by a panel of their peers. We aim to have Instanda on the rostrum next year!
The following day SMA held a strategy day with Tim and Euan King to help define our positioning in the US market relative to other vendors and competitors. We discussed the overall market, how it is segmented and where our efforts should be focused on targeting new opportunities. We also worked on identifying our differentiators and how we should position Instanda relative to our competitors. The US market is a very crowded space with about 70 software vendors competing in the P&C market for policy, claims and billing systems. Half this number compete in the Specialty and more complex Commercial lines market segments.
