With around 100 start-ups, the insurtech industry in Asia is relatively small and newer than that of other regions, such as North America and Europe. While it may be in the early stages of financial development, the region could incubate insurtech and ultimately end up transforming more developed markets controlled by traditional incumbents, according to a Willis Towers Watson report.
In terms of start-up count, the region’s largest insurtech hub is Singapore (17), followed by Indian cities Mumbai (16) and Gurgaon (10). Meanwhile, in terms of total funding raised, Shanghai takes the lead ($1.4 billion), followed by Gurgaon ($161.6 million) and Mumbai ($103.8 million), according to Venture Scanner.
Here are some of the insurtech companies that are disrupting Asia’s insurance industry already, according to ZUU Online and Fintech Singapore, ranked according to the total funding they have raised:
1. ZhongAn Insurance
Total Funding: CN¥5.8 billion* (~$836.2 million)
ZhongAn Insurance is an online-only insurtech company in China that develops ecosystem-oriented insurance solutions in various consumption scenarios. As of June 30, 2017, it had sold more than 9.5 billion insurance policies.
ZhongAn operates its core insurance system on its cloud-based platform Wujieshan. It has also developed advanced AI capabilities to strengthen risk management, optimize product features quickly, and enhance customer experience.
2. SingLife
Total Funding: $173 million*
SingLife (Singapore Life), a life insurance company licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), caters to the protection, savings, investment, retirement, and lifestyle needs of Singaporeans from all walks of life. It offers affordable term life insurance, critical illness and cancer plans. Its protection solutions are available to the retail segment both digitally and through financial advisers, and it also offers universal life solutions to high-net-worth clients.
3. CXA Group
Total Funding: $58 million*
Headquartered in Singapore, Connexions Asia (CXA) Group is Asia’s first employee health and wellness ecosystem. It offers an award-winning benefits experience to more than 400,000 users across 600 companies in 20 countries. Using AI to address employees’ physical, mental and financial health risks, the start-up helps companies shift spending from treatment to prevention.
CXA’s platform gives employees access to personalized health and lifestyle offerings. It lets employers use their existing healthcare and insurance spending to pay for flexible benefits, corporate wellness and disease management initiatives to improve health, fight chronic disease and cut costs while allowing for employee personalization using AI and e-wallet.
4. Coverfox Insurance
Total Funding: $47.3 million*
Coverfox is an insurance broking firm authorized by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and is India’s biggest insurtech platform. The company provides insurance broking services online and has partnered with more than 30 insurance providers to deliver the best plans and policies at the best possible premiums. It offers bike insurance, car insurance, general insurance, health insurance, life insurance, travel insurance, and term insurance.
5. PolicyPal
Total Funding: $20 million*
PolicyPal is a MAS-licensed insurance broker and exempted financial advisor and is Singapore’s first graduate from the MAS fintech regulatory sandbox. Its mission is to help people make the right choice for their protection needs and provide them with affordable financial products, including business insurance, car insurance, critical illness insurance, endowment insurance, personal accident insurance, pet insurance, travel insurance, term life insurance, and whole life insurance policies and coverage.
Aside from its insurance broker business, PolicyPal has also been operating PAL Network, a blockchain protocol for the insurance industry, since 2017.
6. Ins For Renascence
Total Funding: CN¥100 million* (~$14.4 million)
Ins For Renascence is a network technology company that provides industry-level solutions and technical services for internet insurance. The Shanghai-based start-up helps insurance companies improve risk competitiveness and customer service experience through risk control ratings and insurance product customization.
7. The CareVoice
Total Funding: $13.1 million*
The CareVoice is a health insurtech company that delivers mobile-based and data-driven SaaS solutions to make the healthcare experience more consumer-centric. Although based in Shanghai, the company also has a localized healthcare platform for Hong Kong users and insurers.
Woking closely with over 100 high-quality healthcare partners, The CareVoice offers an integrated and personalized experience to its members and generates valuable data for insurance companies. The start-up is a graduate of Chinaccelerator and Ping An Cloud accelerator.
8. PolicyStreet
Total Funding: $535,000*
PolicyStreet is a Malaysia-based insurtech company that advances insurance and healthcare through tech. It was established to make insurance accessible and affordable for Malaysia, where 45% of the population don’t have insurance cover.
PolicyStreet offers business insurance, life insurance, medical insurance, motor insurance, pet insurance, and travel insurance through simple contract options that clients can easily understand. The company’s insurance is commission-free, and it gives rebates on the part of its popular plans.
9. PasarPolis
PasarPolis is a leading insurtech company in Southeast Asia that is backed by Indonesia’s three unicorns: Gojek, Tokopedia, and Traveloka. The Indonesia-based start-up delivers custom insurance solutions via B2B and D2D distribution channels.
10. AppMan
AppMan was founded to help businesses develop high-quality mobile applications and later specialized in creating mobile apps for the sales process and BYOD projects for its insurance clients. The company employs around 70 analysts, designers, and developers. Its platform products enable insurers in Thailand to mobilize their sales agents digitally and shift from paper-based work to an automated process.
*data from Crunchbase