Kanopi CEO and Founder Nigel Fellowes-Freeman was joined last week by QBE Head of Ventures James Orchard and Insurtech Gateway Australia MD Simon O’Dell in a session moderated by Insurtech Australia CEO Rita Yates.
Connected insurance works with internet-connected devices or other platforms that hold data. It changes dynamically with the policyholder’s needs as the platform detects changes.
QBE’s Mr Orchard says connected insurance is a “real driver of business model innovation into the future”.
“It really is the lynchpin, we think, of how insurance is going to change – and the whole value chain, so from distribution to pricing and underwriting, to claims management,” he said.
“It's a massive interest for us. It's a real part of what we're looking at, and something that as the industry starts to understand and scale, is really going to change how an incumbent insurer like us does business – not just for personal lines but right up to the complex lines as well.”
Mr Fellowes-Freeman says Kanopi’s data-driven platform provides insurers with the modular technology needed to transform legacy infrastructure to deliver a “connected ecosystem” approach and to build, launch and scale that new approach in a very fast and adaptable way.
Hollard invested in Melbourne-based Kanopi during a $4 million fundraising in May. The data-driven insurtech connects insurers and digital platforms to best tailor insurance to individual customers.
Founded in 2016, Kanopi says its platform intelligently anticipates consumer needs and its mission is to transform the industry by working with insurance and marketplaces to create one common ecosystem that simplifies insurance.
“Connected insurance, for us, really sits fundamentally the core of what we do,” Mr Fellowes-Freeman said.
By 2030, there is potential for a quarter of all services in the economy to be via a connected approach, he says, versus just 1-2% now.
“That fundamental change is happening. We’ve seen it in a really small microcosm during the pandemic. It’s really starting to accelerate that process,” he said.
Kanopi says insurance is fundamentally a data business and it, therefore, makes sense that insurance is a “primary-use case for this connected world”.
Mr O’Dell revealed Insurtech Gateway sees hundreds of pitches each year and says connected insurance is fundamental for an insurtech start-up to stand out.
“Usually, a compelling and exciting insurtech start-up has connected insurance at their core,” he said.