They have, therefore, become the prey of investors, led by reinsurers. The funds raised by insurtech [4] at the global level during the first nine months of 2021 reach 10 billion USD, including a significant contribution from reinsurers.
Reinsurers-insurtech partnerships
This interest is expressed through the establishment of partnerships and an increasingly important presence of reinsurers in the shareholding of insurtech.
Munich Re [5] has disbursed a total amount of 280 million USD to thirty-six insurtech through its investment subsidiary Munich Re Ventures.
The German reinsurer has thus acquired stakes in, inter-alia, Acko (India), Bought by Many (a British specialist in pet insurance), Next Insurance, Lemonade and Trov (United States).
The German reinsurer is also planning on investing an additional 500 million USD to support start-ups specialized in cyber or climate risks.
Swiss Re [6] on its part, is pursuing a new approach to the insurtech market, with the establishment of its own start-up iptiQ. The latter, which now has around 40 partner start-ups, is applying the B2B2C business model in which several companies collaborate in order to offer innovative services.
Scor [7] has also announced the establishment of Scor Ventures 2.0 in March 2021.
According to the Quarterly Insurtech Briefing report published by Willis Towers Watson and Willis Re, 105 of the 176 investments made in insurtech involved at least one reinsurer in 2016. Out of 377 deals in 2020, only 96 were made by reinsurers. While the number of deals involving this type of operator has declined, the volume of their investments is growing exponentially.
Read also | Global reinsurance market [8]