InsureTechConnect’s World Tour Lands In The UK (Part 1 of 2)
By: Matthew Jones
Tags: Ecosystem, Insurtech, Venture Capital, Fintech, Insurance

On September 3, 2020, we were delighted to participate in the UK leg of InsureTech Connect’s World Tour. Hosted by InsTech London, we had the chance to discuss how Anthemis views the UK insurance market and where the opportunities might lie in the future.

Why we’re investing in the UK

The UK is only one place we look for great investments, alongside North America and Continental Europe. Approximately 40 percent of our insurance portfolio is in the UK, with a couple more that are headquartered elsewhere but have significant operations here.

Richard Counsell, Stable

Coming from the UK, the strength of the UK insurtech ecosystem is a source of pride for me; as I see it, there are three key explanations behind the progress it has made and its energy today. All of them are great reasons for building your startup (or investing) in the UK:

Proximity to Lloyd’s of London: as home to the former-coffee-shop-now-insurance-market, the UK hosts an incredible array of world-leaders in insurance product innovation. Collectively, they make the UK one of the best places to start businesses such as MGAs. Our startups are working with some great UK-based teams and individuals at companies like Allianz, Ascot Group and SCOR. A strong bench: in contrast to some other countries (where the insurance industry can be spread out across a number of different cities), the UK benefits from a strong centre of competence in London, with a critical mass of insurance talent. UK-based startups can recruit — whether as full-time staff or advisors — the very best in the industry. In turn, the UK has startups tackling some of the most interesting problems in insurance. The community spirit: thanks to organisations such as InsTech London, we have a group of people here who genuinely want the sector to do well. Whether you need an introduction or a bit of advice, you’ll find that most people are happy to chip in and help each other.

(Of course, things aren’t perfect here. For example, we’ve lagged behind in the number of new full stack insurers that have chosen the UK as their home and the weather can be iffy… even in August.)

Richard Thornton, Hokodo

What’s next for UK insurtech?

Many of the problems that we see UK startups working on are common across geographies. At the ‘front’, challenges include getting the right product into the right hands, at a reasonable price. At the ‘back’, COVID-19 has highlighted various paper-based processes that have (seemingly inadvertently) become business critical and also cost a fortune to maintain. From a venture capital investor’s perspective (and, of course, the entrepreneur too), the challenge is to align solving a specific problem with becoming a big company. We encourage UK-based entrepreneurs to continue to have big ambitions and to think globally.

As we look towards the end of 2020 and, hopefully, a brighter 2021, insurance and risk management continues to be a key subsector of financial services for Anthemis. In addition to investing in adjacent sectors such as energy, agriculture, mobility and health (spaces where technological progress can, often indirectly, impact the future of the insurance industry), we continue to believe in the opportunity for innovation across all lines of business in the insurance industry — and no part of the insurance value chain is immune to change.

There are lots of opportunities to connect with Anthemis. Our motivation is to create value for the ecosystem. Whether you’re an incumbent, startup or budding entrepreneur, please get in touch — we’re always happy to talk about trends in the industry and make introductions to others in the ecosystem.

You can email us at insurance@anthemis.com, or find us on LinkedIn or Twitter.