We are so excited about the momentum our teams gained as they are entering the sixth week of our 2020 Hartford InsurTech Hub accelerator. Conversations with partners have been progressing, our two mentor meetings had the highest ever attendance, camaraderie is continuing to build amongst the companies, they we’ve all been exploring all that CT has to offer along with having fun in our office ping pong tournament.
Given this spirit and progress, we felt even more sadness as we made the decision to transition to a fully remote program and have the companies all return safely to their homes early last week. In this unprecedented time, we need to focus on what is important, ensuring the startups return home safe and healthy to take care of their loved ones. I am happy to report that all startups from outside the USA have made it back home safely. Our domestic startups are all safe as well, with a few still in the process of heading back home and a few who decided Hartford is a safer place to be.
As we continue our program virtually, a big thank you to all of our partners who have committed to continue the momentum and all the mentors who are doing the same. The strong community support we receive is what makes our program so successful and I can tell you that support keeps the founders spirits high. Thanks to all who supplied the welcome gifts to the startups which included much needed items including hand sanitizer for their long flights home.
Though we are no longer in the same room, the companies are still working harder than ever!
All of the Hartford InsurTech Hub 2020 Cohort have solutions which can be used during this pandemic or are pivoting their strategies to address COVID-19. These are the true innovators and thought leaders that will help all of us get through this together. Please take the time to read the solutions below and reach out to me at [email protected] for a connection.
What does Coronavirus mean for InsurTech?
Everyone is talking about COVID-19 and its widespread impact across industries and the global economy. But what does this mean for investors, startups and more specifically InsurTechs?
The market is volatile and as a global community, navigating this pandemic, it is hard to predict when future economic upsides will occur. However, in this extreme economic disruption, there is an opportunity for insurtechs to step up and use their innovations to help solve the pressing needs created by the COVID-19 outbreak.
By nature, InsurTechs solve problems with innovative solutions. Unbound by bureaucracy, startups are small, nimble, and able to quickly pivot their energies. Shifting energies to new priorities and adapting to changing or growing demands is a key differentiator for the startups who survive and thrive during this time. This is the time for Insurtechs to implement innovative solutions that can help solve global problems.
Our current cohort of startups is doing just that, making an extreme impact during this time.
Stopping the Spread:
UDoTest simplifies and personalizes at-home testing for high risk diseases, engages consumers and lowers costs. UDoTest is currently acting quickly to help develop at home testing for COVID-19. By partnering with Telehealth providers this at home test for the coronavirus will soon be a reality.
Livindi helps family caregivers, assisted living homes, memory care facilities, care providers, and health insurers take care of isolated seniors using a combination of technology and care services. Livindi provides three pillars of care: communication, monitoring and care services. People need reliable communication to stay engaged and connected with seniors because seniors who are isolated fail to thrive and can develop health issues. Remote monitoring lets caregivers, insurers and facilities know a person is safe and well without having to have someone physically checking in or calling. Their newly launched Livindi Solo lets seniors get care services such as food, transportation or telecare and help connect them to purchase directly.
Edlore is expanding the capabilities of their tools to develop a solution to deploy mobile healthcare units where certain staff can be behind the scenes electronically, but still see the patient and direct the front line worker. Their innovative hardware and software solution will let the physician at another location see the patient and create a diagnosis along with a mobile team.
Mitigateway is a tool to keep insurance home inspectors safe during this pandemic. This software walks the homeowner through the completion of their own inspection and makes it easy by identifying the risks which most often lead to residential property insurance claims. Homeowners photograph specific areas of their homes using the prevention app. Photos are reviewed and a simple maintenance plan is designed for each homeowner. For easy tasks, simple instructions are provided and harder task repairs can be scheduled.
Stopping the Panic:
Wysa provides mental health support via a unique 3-layer hybrid model. This uses an emotionally-intelligent AI conversational agent to provide immediate 24×7 support, and helps users identify evidence-based self-help tools and techniques to work through challenging periods of their life. Wysa is currently experiencing a huge spike in usage as consumers are learning how to cope with panic, disruption in their lives, and social isolation. They are also planning on launching a campaign to unlock premium features of Wysa and offer free for all healthcare professionals who are on the front-line.
“Isolation due to social distancing and quarantine, health anxiety, fear about the future: Wysa is becoming a go-to resource. Seeing the huge need, we’ve launched special toolkits for pandemic anxiety – these are being used 3-4 times higher than before. And, all the brave health professionals selflessly fighting the pandemic deserve our deepest gratitude. As a special ‘thank you’, we’re unlocking access to Wysa paid digital premium features. Healthcare professionals in the US and across the world can use them for free.” – Ramakant
Allganize is helping companies that are experiencing a higher call volume or whose call center staff cannot all be available remotely via their tool to help manage large spikes in call volume. Beyond this capability, Allganize also helps automate answering questions from complex text documents. Its applications include assisting service representatives in customer support centers, enhancing the search experience on the website and mobile app for end users, providing customer support chatbots and extracting important entities from text contracts for underwriters and agents.
InvestSure is a world first insurance product supported by global reinsurer Hannover Re. The product is parametric and protects investors from losses in share price caused by allegations of management dishonesty (inc. accounting fraud, bribery,etc). With many investors taking the drop in the market as an opportunity to invest, InvestSure is seeing a spike in usage.
Supporting the infrastructure:
Digisure: As this pandemic continues, safe home delivery has become even more important. Digisure’s technology platform provides risk management and insurance to mobility companies while mitigating their trust, safety and liability risks. Their APIs provide fraud detection, generate risk scoring, dynamically run underwriting rules and transaction-level pricing, deliver protection packages, and handle claims.
Tauruseer: The number one risk identified before this pandemic by company CEO’s was cyber risk. With Tauruseer, companies can automate prioritization and prescriptive guidance to reduce response time to emerging risks, impact to business, and tool and compliance costs. Your internal team can focus on where the largest risks are. Through real-time risk analytics, actionable insights, and improved communication our customers benefit from our cost-effective risk management solutions for not only their own IT systems, but also their third-party software vendors with validated, quantifiable risk intelligence for a more protected digital ecosystem.
iPill: Another significant problem in the US is opioid addiction. It has taken more lives and will continue to do so. Ipill’s dispenser is a first-to-market product that automatically destroys its contents if tampered and at 90 days after prescribed. The connection of the patient to the prescriber electronically can also help remotely manage the patient which can eliminate overdoses and additional visits to overcrowded emergency rooms.
Stable is a distribution and analytics platform for consumers of commercial auto insurance with a focus on rideshare and on-demand economy/mobility. Stable helps drivers, fleets and mobility companies better understand their risks, match that risk to premiums and are working to lower risks taken. As more restaurants and other businesses are offering delivery, this service can be valuable as business models change.
Investors Take Action:
If you are an investor, invest now! Be part of the speedy implementation of life-changing solutions. Supporting small businesses is more important than ever in times like this and investments in solution-oriented startups will not only help to stimulate economic growth but also to solve major problems resulting from this epidemic.
What do you think? How can startups help during this pandemic? Can this time of crisis be turned into an opportunity for entrepreneurs across all industries?
Please complete the survey below if you are a startup with a COVID-19 solution
Click Here: https://forms.gle/9t6tMNqP19nLUroA6
