These are the 50 hottest fintech startups in Europe right now, as London fights to keep up with innovation June 20, 2018 Over half of the 2018 Fintech50 are based in London, as it fights to keep its crown amid increasing competition from startups in cities like Berlin, Dublin, Amsterdam and Warsaw. The city has produced 27 out of Europe’s best ‘ones to watch’, selected from the list’s largest ever pool of over 1,800 fintechs across the [...]
Lloyd’s of London is launching a global insurtech sandbox in the name of reinvention June 12, 2018 For the first time in its 330 year history, insurance behemoth Lloyd's of London is launching a global innovation sandbox to find tech talent that can develop new solutions as it attempts to digitise. Nicknamed Lloyd's Lab, the new initiative will see corporate innovation specialist L Marks go on the hunt for entrepreneurs, early and [...]
Barclays Techstars accelerator adds Anthony Browne , ex-head of banking industry body BBA, as entrepreneur in residence February 14, 2018 The former boss of the British Bankers’ Association; the industry body which last year became UK Finance, has resurfaced at the tech accelerator of one of Britain’s biggest banks. Anthony Browne is joining Barclays Techstars as entrepreneur in residence where he will help advise fintech startups. “Financial technology is one of the most exciting and [...]
The insurance industry needs to embrace blockchain, starting now January 31, 2018 In March 2017, the expression “financial inclusion” hit its peak popularity on Google. This is excellent news. There are over two billion unbanked individuals in the world today – people with no access to banking services. This is a global problem. In India, 19 per cent of the population – 1.2bn people – is unbanked, [...]
Challenger bank Revolut and Thomas Cook have just launched a pay-per-day travel insurance service activated by your phone’s location services January 17, 2018 Another day, another insurtech idea. This time, challenger bank Revolut has launched a pay-per-day travel insurance plan which relies on a mobile phone’s geolocational services. The scheme, which Revolut claims to be the first of its kind, can be turned on and off from a user’s phone. When in use, it will use the phone’s [...]
The next frontier for insurtech is reinventing insurance itself January 8, 2018 In 2015, when I first invested in an insurance technology startup, the term “insurtech” hadn’t been coined, and the explosion of investment in insurance was yet to begin. Fast-forward three years, and the landscape has changed immeasurably. Over $230m was invested in insurtech globally in 2015, growing to over $500m in 2016. Despite the fanfare, [...]
11 tech startups to watch according to top insurers in Startupbootcamp’s insurtech accelerator December 11, 2017 Nearly a dozen startups looking to disrupt the insurance industry with technology such as artificial intelligence have been chosen for the latest cohort of a London programme, backed by Lloyds Banking Group, Allianz, Scottish Widows and Confused.com among several high-profile financial firms. The 11 early stage startups from nine countries around the world will join [...]
The world’s first ever insurtech IPO has raised $1.5bn September 22, 2017 The world’s first float of an insurance technology (insurtech) firm has raised US $1.5bn (£1.1bn). Monday’s IPO of ZhongAn Online Property & Casualty Insurance has been priced at the top of its indicated range at HK $59.70, sources told the Financial Times. The public offering of the online-only group marks the world’s first float of [...]
Tech startup incubator Entrepreneur First raises $12m and gets LinkedIn founder’s backing September 11, 2017 Startup builder Entrepreneur First, which supports the creation of tech firms from scratch, today announced it had completed a $12m (£9m) funding round with the backing of one of LinkedIn’s co-founders London-based Entrepreneur First attracted investment led by Greylock Partners, where LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman is a partner. Read more: Winning in the Dragons’ Den: [...]
Investment in UK insurtech startups is rocketing, easing Brexit fears September 4, 2017 The amount of cash flowing into innovative UK startups hoping to disrupt the insurance sector is rocketing, new figures reveal, with London attracting more than any other location in Europe. Investment in insurance technology (insurtech) has grown an astonishing near 3,000 per cent in 2017, hitting £218m according to fresh insight from Accenture and CB [...]