Effective from 1 May 2018, Simon O’Dell will be the CEO of Insurtech Australia.  O’Dell was one of the founding team of IA and has been instrumental in building Insurtech Australia over its first 6 months as Chief Operating Officer. With over 12 years experience in the insurance industry as a broker, founder of his own Insurtech and a number of roles in the corporate insurance sector, O’Dell is in a prime position to lead Insurtech Australia and represent the needs and views of both its members and partners. Please join us in welcoming Simon O’Dell to his new position.

A message from the CEO:

It is BAU at Insurtech Australia. Our hardworking team is pleased to retain Brenton’s brilliance in an advisory capacity. We continue to build a sustainable foundation from which we roll out value-creating initiatives for our members and our partners.

Our key metrics of success are equal to that of our members’ as individual insurtechs and as an ecosystem.  The level of interdependence between key stakeholders is key and we’re happy to report that Sydney ranks 4th, globally, behind only Helsinki, Silicon Valley and Tel Aviv on the ecosystem performance metric of ‘Local Connectedness’, as rated by Startup Genome (2018). Local Connectedness is ‘an assessment of the local community, including sense of community, relationships, and collisions between founders, investors, and experts. Our community is working together; it is a great time to be in insurtech.

-Simon O’Dell, CEO & Co-founder of Insurtech Australia

A message from the departing CEO and soon to be IA Chairperson:

Insurtech Australia could not be left in better hands; Simon’s enthusiasm for the insurance sector is evidently clear and contagious, and his professionalism in all his dealings speaks for itself. As for me, I am proudly moving into an advisory capacity in a new role as Chairperson. This will enable me to support Simon and the IA team and continue to build Insurtech Australia together with our members and partners. I will also continue to be the Australian representative for the global Insurtech Alliance that we co-founded in January this year.

I’d like to thank all of our members, founding and general partners and our team of volunteers from across the sector for helping us to launch Insurtech Australia and helping us achieve our vision to make Australia a world leading market for Insurtech. Without all your support this would not have been possible.

-Brenton Charnley, Chairperson of Insurtech Australia, GITA Representative

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Media Release
23 January 2018

Insurtech Australia co-founds Global InsurTech Alliance

Insurtech Australia today announced the launch of the Global InsurTech Alliance (GITA) – a new network of organisations to facilitate global connectivity in insurance innovation.

Other GITA founding members include InsTech London (UK), InsurTech Asia and FinTechNZ, with upcoming new members organisations expected from both Europe and North America.

GITA’s mission is to foster international collaboration in global insurtech, to promote innovation within the insurance industry, and to align events and activities in individual member countries. The organisation will form and grow a global community for insurance and technology innovation. In particular, there is intent to share and work together on industry analysis and insights, to make introductions and create opportunities for respective members and partners.

The first GITA-supported activity will be an international roadshow in March facilitated by InsurTech Asia which will offer startups the opportunity to meet leading insurers and investors in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Germany.

Brenton Charnley, CEO of Insurtech Australia commented: “The development of the global insurtech eco-system with international partners reflects the rapid evolution underway for a sector little changed in over two centuries. In just a few years, there has been a rapid emergence of new technologies and Insurtech activities across the insurance value chain. As a global network of organisations dedicated to supporting insurtech, GITA will help facilitate new opportunities for Australian startups and offer enhanced collaboration opportunities to our corporate supporters.”

The global Insurtech trend follows closely behind the growth of fintech innovation in the retail-banking sector. Based on Insurtech Australia’s estimates, Australia already has over 50 organisations actively pursuing insurtech products or projects. According to a Willis Towers Watson and CB Insights report, global insurtech funding rose to US$1.682 billion in 2016, up from just US$347 million in 2012.

“Insurtechs’ major successes to date have largely been driven by successful partnerships between insurtechs, insurers and re-insurers,” said Charnley. “The Global InsurTech Alliance has the potential to be a key driver of global partnerships. This initiative will support our members and partners, and we look forward collaborating with our GITA co-founders in the UK, Asia and New Zealand, as well as welcoming other insurtech ecosystem partners to the alliance.”

GITA’s founding members share an interest and representation from a broad spectrum of companies and eco system partners – including regulators and participants across the entire insurance value chain to technology providers, funding partners, start-ups and more.

“InsurTech Asia Association and our members are excited to be among the founding members for Global InsurTech Alliance. Asia has seen a spike of insurtech activity in the past two years with major regional innovation hubs taking shape in both China and Singapore. We recognise that the true power of insurtech is in collaboration and the best innovations will scale across our ecosystems to transform global insurance industry. We look forward to taking our cross-border collaboration to the next level and building the future of insurance together,” says George Kesselman President of the InsurTech Asia Association.

Global alliance follows rapid growth since launch

The founding of GITA marks a rapid period of expansion for Insurtech Australia following its launch in October 2017. New corporate partners have joined to support the growth of Insurtech in Australia. DXC Technology, one of the world’s largest global IT Services and Solutions provider to the insurance industry joins as a Founding Partner together with new General Partners: RAA Insurance, Gallagher Insurance Brokers and Cunningham Lindsay Loss Adjusters.

Insurtech Australia’s leadership team has also been boosted by the appointment of Simon O’Dell as Chief Operating Officer. Simon has over 10 years’ experience in insurance broking and will combine his duties with his role as the co-founder of Manner.io, a platform to connect brokers and underwriters.

“We welcome our newest partners to Insurtech Australia’s growing list of partners who share our passion for thinking differently and growing Insurtech in Australia. Both the calibre and diversity of our Partner group demonstrates the interest and importance of Insurtech to the Australian insurance industry.” says Insurtech Australia’s COO Simon O’Dell.

Insurtech Australia is rolling out a full programme of activities in 2018, including:

• A full calendar of monthly partner events across the country, with the first on 15 February in Sydney sponsored by General Partner Envest on the topic of “Building real value in Insurtech with a Venture Capital Partner”
• Supporting the DXC Springboard competition (launched by Founding Partner DXC in December 2017 in collaboration with another Founding Partner Stone and Chalk). The competition invites late-stage Insurtech startups to pitch their solution to a panel of senior
  leaders from insurance and technology companies with an opportunity to win prize money and global distribution with DXC Technology
• Acting as an event partner for the second annual ANZIIF Insurtech Conference (organised by General Partner ANZIIF) on the 3 May 2018.

– Ends –

Media Contact:
Ash Pritchard, Kicker Communications
ash@kickercomms.com
+61 411 020 680

Insurtech Australia Contact:
Simon O’Dell, COO
simon@insurtechaustralia.org
+61 401 100 606

Download the full report here.

Insurtech Australia has finally launched…and what an event!

Here’s what happened

It was a full house as guests arrived early evening for the launch. As everyone eagerly awaited the start, discussions of the latest insurance and insurtech happenings could be heard throughout the room. Representatives from all facets of the Australian insurance ecosystem were present: insurtechs, insurers, advisors, investors, policy advocators, and more.

As the room quieted, Steve Raynor (COO, QBE) delivered a warm welcome followed by a few words from Danielle Szetho (CEO, FinTech Australia). After the opening remarks, CEO and Co-Founder of Insurtech Australia, Brenton Charnley, hit the stage to formally announce the launch of Insurtech Australia.

Without delay, Charnley dove right into discussing the milestones Insurtech Australia has reached since its inception in 2016, its strong team and community of partners and members, and the organisation’s objectives for the upcoming year. Charnley took a moment to remind us of how insurance has evolved over time, and what it means today.

“Whilst time has changed, insurance, or the underlying purpose, continues to survive. Yes, the technology has improved, but insurance has seen shifts due to tech before. We define insurtech as the application of technology innovation in the insurance industry value chain, to solve known challenges and discover unknown opportunities, in order to deliver value for customers.”

Insurtech Australia aims to make Australia a world leading market for insurtech innovation and investment. The insurtech and insurance industry has boomed in the last few years, and Charnley states Australia is in position to be a world leader in insurtech.

“We have the resources, the talent, and the drive to make this happen…Australia is known for being a high quality exporter, so let’s add insurtech to the mix.”

Charnley also discussed the importance of building and growing an insurtech ecosystem to support this cause, as more can be achieved by leveraging all parties in the ecosystem and working together. This ecosystem includes:

• Investors and capital
• Government and Policy
• Insurers, Reinsurers, Brokers and community
• Insurtechs, technology and the innovation ecosystem
• Advisors, support and industry bodies

Panel Discussion

With the launch thoroughly addressed, it was time for a panel discussion with a few insurtech thought leaders who are currently making waves in the industry: Naby Mariyam (Founder and CEO, Coverhero), Louise Dwyer (EGM Global Partnerships, Suncorp Group), Daniel Fogarty (Co-Founder and CEO, Evari), and Ralph Ronnenberg (Managing Director, Munich Re Australasia), facilitated by Insurtech Australia’s Partnerships Manager, Rita Yates.

The question of the hour was, “How can Australia be a world leader in insurtech?”

Incidentally, this question was asked again to the wider community of insurtechs and partners. See what they have to say here.

All in all, it was a successful launch for Insurtech Australia and we’re excited to see what the insurtech community can accomplish together this upcoming year.

What’ next for Insurtech Australia?

Insurtech Australia aims to make Australia a world leading market for insurtech innovation and investment by fostering a diverse community of insurance innovation & collaboration. As a not-for-profit organisation, it is dedicated to supporting and growing the insurtech community and advocating on behalf of its members and partners.

For 2018, Insurtech Australia will work to:

• Establish a nationwide insurtech community and increase membership
• Accelerate insurance innovation, grow insurtechs and partnerships
• Advocate on insurtech policy to help create the best regulatory environment
• Support and connect people in the ecosystem, locally and globally

In the upcoming year, Insurtech Australia will also collaborate with ANZIIF on the 2018 Insurtech Conference.
For more photos from the event, please click here.
Keen to get involved? Join the Insurtech Australia Community Group on LinkedIn here.

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