Zurich Insurance Group’s global innovation tournament has reached its three-month accelerator phase, where 12 startups will develop their ideas with support from the insurer.
The Zurich Innovation Championship, now in its third edition, received 2,762 applications for the tournament, double the number it received in 2020/21.
“The breadth of ideas that we received from startups around the world was incredible and gives us a glimpse of what tomorrow’s insurance will look like,” said Ericson Chan, Group Chief Information & Digital Officer, Zurich. “Our winners have well thought-through and innovative solutions, and we look forward to developing these together to provide new solutions to our customers and simplify the way we interact with them.”
The 12 chosen startups – three winners for each of the four competition themes insurance reimagined, prevention and mitigation, simplicity, and sustainability (see graphic below, and full breakdown of startups at end of article) – are now developing their initiative together with a Zurich business unit. See Zurich’s official winners video here.
The startups that have entered the accelerator are receiving mentoring from senior Zurich executives. Ultimately, Zurich aims to implement the initiatives both locally and globally, potentially reaching millions of customers.
Speaking to TDI’s Hugh Terry, Stuart Domingos, Head of Group Innovation, Zurich, said: “The way it works is that both the business units and the startups have to figuratively swipe right for each other. They needs to have chemistry, meaning that the use cases that we see in the business units and the solutions we see from the startups match, and then they start working together. Internally we don’t just refer to ‘the startups’, rather we call it ‘the initiatives’: we have a purpose driven entrepreneur and a purpose driven intrepreneur, and it’s this symbiosis that makes for a winning team.” (See the full video interview with Zurich’s Stuart Domingos and Anthony Elliott below)
The 12 startups are exploring solutions including: technology to detect and prevent cyberbullying; smartphone access to video-based health and wellness monitoring; tools to measure and reduce the carbon footprint of companies and individuals; and settling insurance claims automatically using AI and blockchain.
And speaking to TDI’s Hugh Terry, Antony Elliott, Head of Digital R&D, Zurich, said: “There’s definitely some startups we’ve taken in that we wouldn’t have identified [without the Zurich Innovation Championship], but seeing their submission helped us realise that this is a problem we really want to solve within Zurich, so leaving the tournament ‘open’ has allowed us to bring in some quite surprising ideas, which I think are going to drive a big impact within and beyond the organisation.”
Following the accelerator phase, in the implementation phase the successful ideas will come to life and potentially see them scaled globally (see timeline below and full infographic at end of article).
“This is when it gets really exciting as we collaborate to test, grow and execute, allowing for a joint adoption of the most promising use cases,” said Domingos.
For Zurich the Innovation Championship is a key program to help meet its aspirations to be one of the most responsible and impactful companies in the world. Zurich states that to achieve this it needs to act “more like a disruptor”.
On the Zurich Innovation Championship site Zurich states, “Our ambition is to redefine what insurance means in the 21st century and become a global enabler of purpose-driven, personalized experiences, services and products all based on our customer’s needs.”
The startups in the ZIC accelerator phase by category:
- Insurance reimagined: Caruso, Garanteasy, Keepers.ai
- Prevention and mitigation: Adapt Ready, Binah.ai, One Concern
- Simplicity: Anagog, Democrance, LISA Insurtech
- Sustainability: Deedster, Dynamhex, Salient
Caruso: Award winning platform that has harmonized multi-brand in-vehicle data of different vehicle manufacturers in one location, ready to use https://www.caruso-dataplace.com
Garanteasy: Storage and management of all types of warranties https://eu.garanteasy.com
Keepers.ai: AI-powered social media parental alert system for toxic conversations and dangerous websites. Works on TikTok, Instagram, WhatsApp, and more https://www.keepers.ai/home
Adapt Ready: Adapt Ready enables carriers to gain clarity and relevance on risk exposures, write more profitable accounts and boost their claims and underwriting efficiency https://adaptready.com
Binah.ai: Binah.ai’s Health Data Platform is an AI-powered, video-based, software-only solution that enables any industry in need of real-time health data to easily extract a wide range of health measurements with end-user agreement using personal electronic devices https://www.binah.ai
One Concern: One Concern has built a Digital Twin of the world around us, revealing hidden risks across the built and natural environments posed by natural disasters, extreme weather, and climate change. Digital Twin enables customers to uncover direct structural risks to their buildings, as well as risks posed to the external networks they depend on https://oneconcern.com/en/
Anagog: Mobile customer engagement platform that leverages real-world user insights for better personalization, engagement, and analytics. All with full on-device privacy https://www.anagog.com
Democrance: Democrance helps insurers increase their digital sales and access new customer segments. Democrance works with insurers, mobile operators and other industries to offer insurance and protection to the underinsured and uninsured population of emerging markets https://www.democrance.com
LISA Insurtech: Streamlines insurance processes with technology that uses blockchain and artificial intelligence. Services include automating the payment management process, processing claims automatically from insurance companies, and orchestrating the communication process with all the actors involved in the aftermarket value chain https://lisainsurtech.com
Deedster: Deedster’s SaaS platform enables the shift needed to becoming a sustainable businesses https://deedster.com
Dynamhex: Dynamhex uses AI to take the guesswork out of energy transition by creating equitable and actionable carbon reduction roadmaps. Its carbon accounting and emissions management platform helps measure, report, and reduce the carbon footprint of corporate operations. Dynamhex leverages localized data to address climate change https://dynmhx.io
Salient: Salient combines novel ocean and land-surface data with machine learning and climate expertise to deliver the world’s most accurate subseasonal-to-seasonal weather forecasts 2 to 52 weeks in advance https://www.salientpredictions.com
See also:
Zurich Innovation Championship infographic:
PowerPoint Presentation