Insurers and insurtechs: The best of two worlds

“Insurtechs or startups in general are comparable to speed boats. They innovate quickly, which gives them a competitive advantage. They are absolute experts in their field, use cutting-edge technologies and solutions, have a high level of commitment, experience with several B2B customers and their fingers are always on the pulse of current affairs. Corporates can benefit from this in many ways,” says Hanbing Ma, Head of Innovation & Digital Transformation at ERGO..

Think big, start small, scale fast

Ma says, ERGO has a specific route for fostering collaborations with startups: “Our recipe is ‘Think big, start small, scale fast’. As an established company, we bring extensive industry knowhow, established processes and a huge customer base, which are fundamental for insurtechs. Start-ups can also benefit from our strong networks and the level of awareness that we as an established corporation have among our customers, in the industry and in society. Such corporations can take the startup’s development to the next level of its lifecycle.” Indeed, ERGO has over 60 collaborations across the entire value chain.

Eureka moments

Ma says that ERGO has benefited from startups’ unique ability to broaden horizons on the potential of technologies. “Those creative minds and experts put our focus and attention on things we haven’t looked at so far. They give us the ‘Eureka’ moment regarding new technologies and how we could use them. Startups are outstanding at this. And they have much shorter innovation cycles. Therefore, we as ERGO cooperate with start-ups wherever it makes sense and has an impact.”

In the detailed article by ITIJ, Hanbing Ma is joined by experts from Generali Global Assistance, Zurich Insurance Group and AIG Travel. The full article is available here: