Bermuda headquartered global insurance and reinsurance firm AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has announced a partnership with Silicon Valley start-up accelerator Plug and Play as it targets a deeper involvement in helping to develop InsurTech start-ups.
By participating in Plug and Play’s InsurTech platform, AXIS will get to work alongside leading digital insurance startups, providing mentorship and technical support, as well as the perhaps more important underwriting and actuarial expertise.
The input of leading re/insurers is key to many start-ups targeting the re/insurance world, as they can often lack in industry experience and their ideas can sometimes lack commercial value.
“AXIS has a proven entrepreneurial track record and our alliance with Plug and Play will allow us to partner with the entrepreneurs who are helping to drive innovation in insurance and reinsurance,” commented Chris DiSipio, CEO of AXIS A&H and executive sponsor of the Company’s InsurTech initiative. “We are the perfect partner for bringing their ideas to life and are committed to InsurTech as a driver of future growth, both for AXIS and the (re)insurance industry.”
The 12-week Plug and Play accelerator program is designed to help start-ups speed products to market, while benefiting from industry expertise and mentoring.
It’s a model commonly used in Silicon Valley to help start-ups get through some of the more difficult early growth period, while ensuring they can identify product-market fit for their companies and gain vital feedback from industry experts.
In insurance and reinsurance this is incredibly important and accelerator programs are one way start-ups can interact more closely with industry.
“We are thrilled to have AXIS Capital as a new partner of our platform,” Ali Safavi, Plug and Play InsurTech Director said. “Our team intends to leverage this partnership and AXIS’ expertise in the field to continue to drive innovation and change in the industry with the hope of creating the ultimate startup ecosystem for InsurTech.”
AXIS will work with property and casualty, life/health and general InsurTech startups, with a focus on Insurance, Reinsurance, Health, IoT (Internet of Things), FinTech and Mobility. Leaders from different business areas at AXIS will act as mentors and advisors to start-ups going through the Plug and Play InsurTech program.
For AXIS, having early access to promising InsurTech start-ups can both be a way for it to learn about innovation and disruptive trends, as well as introduce it to potential future partners or even venture investments.
It’s essential for insurance and reinsurance firms to remain on top of the trends set to disrupt their core markets and partnering with an accelerator like Plug and Play is one way to do so.
