Insurtech, a combination of insurance and technology, is currently booming the Asian market as players across the region are heavily investing in this modern technology. This is because of a rise in fortune and middle-class populace in developing markets of India, part of Southeast Asia, and China. Moreover, easily available opportunities for investors, incumbents, and disruptors are booming the InsurTech market.
Swiss Re, one of the world’s leading providers of reinsurance and insurance, anticipated that Asia Pacific may report about 42% of global insurance premiums by 2029. Thus, China is anticipated to account for over 20% of the total industry revenue, making it the world’s largest insurance industry by 2030.
Governments across Asia Pacific are launching several favorable programs and policies to support insurtech and fintech. For instance, the Indonesian insurtech start-up Qoala raised approximately USD 13.5 million in Series A funding led by Centauri Fund. Qoala was launched in 2019, and to democratize insurance, the company leverages blockchain, big data, internet-of-things (IoT), and machine learning.
Harshet Lunani and Tommy Martin, Co-founders of Qoala, said, that the company will use the funding to invest further into its people, technology, and brands to fuel its multi-channel strategy. Qoala’s major partners are Tokopedia and Investree, Shopee, Traveloka app, JD, Pegipegi, and Grabkios.
AMTD Digital, a Singapore-based company, earlier this month acquired an insurtech start-up PolicyPal, a digital management platform for insurance. Further, PolicyPal will operate as AMTD Digital’s “major operating vehicle” as the organization seeks to develop an insurtech platform across the entire Asian region.
Singapore is known as the insurtech core of Southeast Asia
As per a report published by Singapore Fintech Association’s insurtech directory, Singapore is now a major hub for insurtech innovation that boosts the region” ’s largest insurtech start-ups with more than 80 companies. The city-state has hailed several emerging insurtech companies aiming to collaborate and innovate the insurance industry.
According to a report published by Accenture, several key investors of Singapore are investing in the space to build an enhanced insurtech industry. The report states that insurtech funding multiplied to about USD 128 million in 2019 from the USD 35 million in 2018. Thus, insurtech industries accounted for over 17% of the total fintech funding in 2019.
Symbo, Singapore Life (Singlife), Inzsure, and GoBear are the key insurtech players from Singapore. Inzsure offers on-demand corporate insurance solutions, whereas Singlife offers digital life insurance services. Igloo is another major insurtech start-up that provides digital insurance products that uses end-to-end automated claims management, big data, and real-time risk assessment. Disease and accidents, travel, and personal goods are all covered in the policy. Moreover, its services are available across markets such as Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand.
China being the key innovator
China leads the way when it comes to technology. Insurance industries across China are more advanced in comparison to other countries. For instance, Tencent and Alibaba are at the lead of the paradigm shift in the insurance business. WeSure, an insurtech subsidiary of Tencent, allows users to buy insurance products without ever leaving the WeChat ecosystem.
China’s topmost health insurer is Ping An, a tech company that works across insurance, property, health, and finance to build “smart cities.” Ping An’s insurance business, HealthKonnect, covers about 500 million people across 170 cities.
