New funding commitments to the insurtech sector totalled $4.36 billion during the first three quarters of 2019, according to Willis Towers Watson.
This figure is already 5% up on the total amount of investments in insurtech during the previous year.
The broker recorded 239 total transactions across the year so far, 83 of which were announced in the third quarter.
Q3 investments were valued at $1.50 billion, making it the third-highest quarter for global insurtech investment to date.
Deal numbers were up 20% and marked the first quarter since Q2, 2018 when investments in B2B InsurTechs outnumbered investments in distribution-focused ventures.
“The continuing rise in InsurTech investment acknowledges the enormous role technology has to play in our industry, but we need to avoid becoming a sector jaded and frustrated by it,” said Andrew Johnston, Global Head of InsurTech at Willis Re.
“Today’s InsurTech is as much about hype and entrepreneurial culture as it is about appropriate technology for the (re)insurance industry,” he continued. “People across the sector now talk more positively about the use of technology. Some see it as the potential saviour of a broken system.”
“With InsurTech innovations, insurers are able to achieve a complex, bespoke information technology solution that fits their businesses by abandoning one-size-fits-all systems in favour of a mix-and-match approach,” added Jason Rodriguez, Data Science Lead at Willis Towers Watson’s Insurance Consulting and Technology Americas.
“This allows them to shop for value in one functional area while investing in a best-in-class solution in another.”
