One area of alternative finance which may be flying under your radar is insurtech. Admittedly late to the technology party, the industry is moving forward as companies begin to apply lessons learned in other sectors to what had been a fairly stable sector.
Big data and artificial intelligence are being leveraged to provide better and quicker underwriting capability. technologies are also being developed that allow you vehicle insurance premiums, for example, to fluctuate based on whether or not you are in town to drive it.
Blockchain technology will likely surpass those in how it impacts the insurance sector. Consortiums are leveraging permissions to save on collective onboarding costs by letting competitors get basic information everyone needs to provide service, yet they do not get to see the specific relationship that client has with another provider.
As with any technology, one key validator is when new technology companies get acquired. The latest case came across the wire earlier today when OTC-listed Fineqia International announced the acquisition of a significant stake (in excess of 20 percent) in Black Insurance, a digital, blockchain-based insurance startup. This is Fineqia’s second time funding Black Insurance.
Founded by Risto Rossar in 2018, Black plans to obtain an insurance license and enable the underwriting of new insurance policies via insurance syndicates akin to the Lloyd’s market. Brokers and agents will be able to develop offerings in a fraction of the time.
“Fineqia is pleased to have topped its original investment in Black in this most recent investment round,” Fineqia CEO Bundeep Singh Rangar said in a statement. “Black represents everything we want from issuers: innovation, disruption and ambition. And, we believe that insurance is one sector ripe for blockchain disruption and Black Insurance has the right team experience to make this happen.”
Black offers a marketplace where investors and insurance underwriters can directly trade with one another.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
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