The Insurtech Leadership Podcast

How to Build Insurance Products that are Fun and Accessible to Everyone (w/Mike Cavanaugh, VP Insurtech Growth at Boost)

Meet Michael Cavanaugh Vice President of Insurtech Growth for Boost Insurance, where he is responsible for the development, implementation, and success of new & emerging products for Insurtech businesses. Whether Pet, Renters or Cyber - Boost is enabling companies to write the new fun and profitable lines of insurance and remove barriers to entry.

Before his move to Boost, Mike was with Apogee Insurance Group for 12 years where he led the growth and development of the Tech & Cyber product broking team.As a graduate of the St. Joseph’s University School of Risk Management and a Certified Ethical Hacker, Mike leverages this experience to address the gap in technology and insurance that prevents many companies and individuals from understanding the benefit of Cyber Insurance. Mike’s background in Insurance and Computer Science allows him to provide insight into the changing Cyber Security Risk Management environment and the Insurtech landscape for the Insurance community.

Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Why Being Investors in Early Technologies Put insurers at a Longer-Term Disadvantage (w/Matthew Jones, MD Anthemis)

Matthew Jones is a Managing Director at Anthemis, where he is responsible for sourcing, analyzing and executing investments as well as providing support for Anthemis’ portfolio companies. He brings in-depth knowledge of the insurance sector and focuses on investments in insurance and risk-related technology.

Matthew’s areas of interest include analytics and data, artificial intelligence and automation, asset management, digital health, mobility, new insurance propositions and risk management. Prior to joining Anthemis, Matthew was at Swiss Re, with roles across non-life and life insurance and reinsurance in both London and Zurich.

Matthew previously served on the boards of Flock, Hokodo and Stable and is the resident venture investor for Carrier Management’s VC Viewpoint series. He holds a bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Bath and also studied at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.

Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Insurtech Hartford Helps Companies Grow and Prosper (w/Stacey Brown, Insurtech Hartford and AXA-XL)

Today meet Stacey Brown who is Head of Global Technology Innovation at AXA XL, a Division of AXA, and Founder at InsurTech Hartford. Stacey is an insurance technology executive with a strong tech background with over 20 years industry experience developing high-performing IT teams and strategic solutions. Atop his responsibilities as an IT executive, Stacey is most recently known for his role in jumpstarting the one of the world’s most successful InsurTech ecosystems, InsurTech Hartford.

Stacey founded Insurtech Hartford by a genuine interest, he saw the insurtech scene happening in other places and didn't see it outside his window in Hartford. His mission since then has been to host events and bring people together, he struggled on his own for a while but then met the folks at Upward Hartford in a partnership to run networking, hackathon and startup pitch night events.

Stacey says the activity around insurtech has changed, with valuations drastically increasing, and having more VCs in the game than five years ago. As an industry insider, Stacey's broad definition of insurtech as, "Applying technology to make the insurance industry better." He is witnessing the transformation where once 'edge' technologies such as advanced analytics, #machinelearning and #AI as becoming more commercially viable and get down to solving real problems.

Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

#insurtechhartford

We’re From a Tough Neighborhood, Independence and Innovation are our Culture (w/Kobi Bendelak, CEO Insurtech Israel)

Happy to chat with Kobi Bendelak, Founder and CEO of InsurTech Israel. We met Kobi at a recent event in Stamford, CT and his super-high energy and inside knowledge of Insurtech from the Israeli market is such a welcome voice! 

The company has four areas of activity: Investment, Consulting, Events and News and the Israeli Insurtech Accelerator. This combination of activities make InsurTech Israel one of the leading and most active participants in the global Insurtech ecosystem.   

Kobi has a deep InsurTech knowledge base with 22 years of experience in the insurance industry, is former CEO of a Migdal / Assicurazioni Generali subsidiary. Kobi is a Colonel (Reserve) in the Israeli defense forces, a mentor in three accelerators programs around the world, Lloyds Lab, SBC USA and GIA. Kobi was chosen by the Daily Fintech magazine to be among the 34 respected resources people in the InsurTech industry in both 2019 and 2020.

Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Four out of Five Clients Want to Do Everything Online: Empowering Independent Agencies to Go Digital (w/Jason Keck, CEO at Broker Buddha)

Jason Keck is a seasoned technology entrepreneur, bringing 20 years of experience across digital and mobile to the insurance industry. Before founding Broker Buddha, he led business development teams at industry unicorns, including Shazam and Tumblr. A Harvard graduate with a degree in Computer Science, Jason also worked at Accenture and Nextel prior to building innovative brands and gaining success in the startup world.

Broker Buddha creates value in creating smart forms for insurance agents, creating a simple way to transport data into core insurance systems without extracting data from pdfs.

Their agency core success metric is submission counts, or numbers of policy submissions in terms of time, volume and quality. Larger agencies can be completely online in under 90 days, and smaller agencies can onboard in only a few weeks.

Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

 

Using AI to make the Automotive Claims Process Better (w/Eliron Ekstein, CEO, Ravin AI & Author, Forbes Technology Council)

Meet Eliron Ekstein, CEO at Ravin AI and Contributing Author at Forbes Technology Council.

Ravin's inspections turn the insurance class process on its head by providing the customer tools to scan damages themselves. Ravin uses extensive data about each vehicle type, and provides the insurer with an initial estimate, leaving the adjuster and body shop to confirm and complete the repairs process.

Examples of transparency during the auto insurance claims process: When is my car going to be repaired? When will I get it back? What is actually being repaired? Are we overpaying for this repair?

Examples of transparency during used car sales and the insurance process: What's happened to this vehicle in the past 2-3 years?

Ravin embeds AI into many of the well-established claims processes and companies. So Ravin focusses on the use of objective images, immediate report-creation and removing pain from the process as-is today. 

Eliron sees significant opportunities for disruption of the existing value chain with embedded insurance and auto manufacturers like Tesla seeing distribution, after-sales service, claims and insurance as part of their end-to-end customer experience.

Previously at Shell, Eliron worked on inspecting cars for safety, using mobile phone inspection and solving for the friction of transparency in the auto insurance sector.  

Eliron has worked for 10 years in digitizing the automotive and transportation sectors. Before founding Ravin, Eliron was Head of New Business Development at Shell’s Digital Ventures unit in London, investing and incubating new businesses that could leverage Shell’s global footprint of retail locations for the benefit of fleets, motorists, and smart cities. Prior to that, Eliron served as the CEO of FarePilot.com, a startup using machine learning to help taxi and Uber drivers find their next passenger by predicting demand patterns in local areas. Eliron has an MBA from London Business School

Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Putting Equity and Diversity into the Heart of Insurtech (w/Elizabeth McCluskey, Director at CMFG Ventures, Cuna Mutual)

Elizabeth McCluskey is a Director at CMFG Ventures, the venture capital arm of CUNA Mutual Group. She is the head of the Discovery Fund, which focuses on early-stage fintech companies led by underrepresented founders.

Today she talks about financial inclusion, low-income populations, and sourcing entrepreneurs directly from these communities. 

She discusses impact investing vs. just making sound investments for financial return, and the fund's core theses around budgeting and financial management, credit access/building, affordable debt, wealth building, financial wellness and embedding financial literacy in all of these.

Elizabeth sheds light on member-serving credit unions as a new ecosystem for most insurtechs, and aligning their mission and values with the overall investment and startup strategy.

Elizabeth is passionate about supporting companies that improve consumer financial health and address financial inequality. She has spent her career in financial services, including over 15 years as an investor in private and public markets.

Prior to joining CMFG Ventures, Elizabeth was a Principal at Impact Engine, where she helped launch the women-led investment firm’s first venture capital fund.  At Impact Engine, she invested in early-stage companies in economic empowerment, environmental sustainability, and health equity.  She has an undergraduate degree from Harvard College and an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.

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Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Using Data to Insure Construction Sites: Sensors, AI, Risk, Safety & Productivity (w/Stephen Buonpane, Co-Founder and CIO at Shepherd)

Meet Stephen Buonpane, who is co-founder and Chief Insurance Officer of Shepherd Labs, Inc., a tech-enabled Managing General Underwriter for the commercial construction sector. 

Prior to starting Shepherd, Stephen was Chubb North America’s Construction Industry Practice Leader for Major Accounts and the Executive Vice President of underwriting for Chubb’s Primary and Excess Casualty Construction divisions. Based in New York City, he was responsible for overseeing the strategic direction of Chubb’s large account construction business and the execution of the divisions’ underwriting strategies countrywide. 

Prior to joining Chubb, Stephen spent 21 months with the British Government as UK Trade and Investment’s US Financial Services Sector lead. He earned a Master of Business Administration degree with distinction from New York University’s Stern School of Business and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from the University of Delaware.

Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

How Legal Can Take a Leading Role in your Innovation Efforts (w/Michael Lanza, EVP General Counsel, Selective Insurance Group)

Michael H. Lanza is Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. 

In today's episode, he traces his path from being a lawyer in Hartford at Cigna to being 17 years at Selective, a well-known super-regional commercial insurer. 

Michael shares lessons about how legal can support the key aspects of technology and innovation for insurers. He led in the Insurtech multi-disciplinary task force at Selective that prepared analyses of the market, finding competitive advantage and reviewing opportunities in agency and distribution empowerment and customer experience.

He also recalls bringing together a strategy from the initial ideas from the Board, reviewing trends in Silicon Valley, including Selective's award-winning innovation in the automotive industry and commercial lines. 

In 2019 Selective added an innovation lab, and has also made investments via its strategic investment committee. He describes how closely the lab ideas are tied to senior business people to ensure the success from new idea into business production, which involves cultural change as much as technological change.

Michael talks about how during the pandemic, innovation accelerated, in particular to managing customer safety management (loss control), adding virtual inspections using video. 

Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers. 

Mr. Lanza joined Selective in 2004. Before that, he was a corporate advisor and consultant and served as Executive Vice President and Corporate Secretary of QuadraMed Corporation, a publicly-traded healthcare IT company. Previously, Mr. Lanza was Assistant General Counsel at CIGNA Corporation, where his responsibilities included state government affairs, health care compliance, and international matters. He began his career in private legal practice in Connecticut. 

Major Shifts in Mobility, Connectivity and Embedded Insurance (w/Tomer Kashi, CEO Voom)

Tomer Kashi, CEO & Co-Founder at Voom Insurance, on-demand insurance for anything you can ride or fly. Voom is an MGA that focuses on use-based products around the future of mobility, using new sources of data to provide a better insurance experience for markets typically underserved by the incumbent providers. 

One advantage Tomer sees for insurtechs is that In personal lines, most of the pricing models are publicly available. What he calls "Insurtech 2.0" is the ability to focus not only on user experience but the underlying risk models themselves. 

Tomer sees three major shifts in the future of mobility space that provide tailwinds for  new models of insurance:

• New platforms such as drones

• Increased connectivity, new risk assessment and embedded insurance 

• Rise of subscription models, decreasing ownership 

Tomer addresses the ability of customers to "exploit" or somehow mis-use these new pricing models. In his experience with on-demand, use-based coverages the customers play fair overall and do fit the model.

Coming to the US from another country offers the opportunity for a deep, broad market. Tomer describes the "necessity" of targeting the US market in order to scale.

Voom's latest fundraise was $15M, he describes how product growth drove the capital raise, and how the VC feedback and process helped the company focus even more on its niche markets using proven growth metrics. VC connections and introductions become critical in the niche spaces such as mobility, drones.

In terms of the mid-term future of mobility Tomer assumes the future holds connectivity, and increasingly better safety; however the shift to fully-autonomous vehicles may change important pieces of the insurance model.

Prior to founding Voom, Tomer spearheaded interdisciplinary technology projects from within the Prime Minister’s Office in Israel. Tomer is a "Talpiot" graduate and has a  BSc in computer science and physics from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an MBA from Tel Aviv University. Tomer is based in Tel Aviv and is a proud father of two little daughters.

Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.