Four startups from Asia-Pacific (APAC) have been featured in the 2024 CB Insights Insurtech 50, earning recognition as among the world’s most promising private insurtech companies.
The annual Insurtech 50 list showcases the top 50 insurtech startups globally, selected based on comprehensive CB Insights datasets. These datasets consider factors such as deal activity, industry partnerships, team strength, investor backing, patent activity, employee headcount, and proprietary algorithms that assess the health and growth potential of private companies.
This year’s 50 companies include 23 tech vendors and 27 insurers and intermediaries. Most of these tech vendors offer artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, aligning with the broader momentum toward AI (and generative AI) adoption across the insurance industry.
Of the 50 insurtech companies, 40% are early-stage companies, while 46% are mid-stage, having reached either Series B or C funding. Collectively, these companies have raised a total of US$5.6 billion across more than 210 disclosed equity deals.
These 50 companies represent over a dozen different countries, with the majority (30) based in the US. In this article, we look at the four APAC startups that made it into the 2024 CB Insights Insurtech 50, highlighting their value propositions, recent achievements and growth strategies.
Reask (Australia)
Reask provides high-resolution weather risk analytics and forecasting. The company offers advanced solutions to assess the severity and frequency of extreme weather events worldwide, at any time.
By leveraging AI across diverse climate data sources, Reask has developed proprietary weather modeling algorithms that learn the principles of climate physics. These algorithms provide dynamic, forward-looking assessments of atmospheric risk, offering crucial insights and intelligence to insurers and asset managers who require more accurate catastrophe forecasting than what traditional, static historical methods can provide.
A key focus for Reask is tropical cyclones, which have caused in excess of US$1 trillion in total economic damage globally over the last ten years. Alarmingly, less than 50% of those economic damages was insured. With the severity of tropical cyclones expected to increase due to climate change, Reask’s technology aims to address this growing threat to organizations worldwide.
Reask raised US$6.55 million in funding in June 2023 to add more hazard coverage and grow our team internationally to better service customers in these growing markets.
Bowtie Life Insurance Company (Hong Kong)
Bowtie Life Insurance Company is an authorized life insurance company and Hong Kong’s first virtual insurer. The company’s vision is to bridge the medical protection gap and transform the way people access healthcare in Hong Kong.
Bowtie utilizes modern technology and medical expertise to offer a user-friendly, commission-free online platform. This platform allows customers to obtain quotes, apply for, and claim medical insurance plans conveniently, anytime and anywhere.
Bowtie, which is backed by notable investors including Sun Life Financial and Mitsui and Co, has raised more than HK$680 million (US$87.1 million) and has provided over HK$90 billion (US$11.5 billion) of insured value to families. The company claims a 30% market share in the direct sales channel of the insurance industry, and says it ranked number one in Hong Kong’s direct channel for H1 2023.
Bowtie says its critical illness products saw over 100% growth between 2022 and 2023. In addition to individual insurance products, the company says it has made substantial progress in group medical insurance and wellness solutions, now serving over 500 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including technology-driven companies across industries such as fintech, telecommunications, and airlines.
Qoala (Indonesia)
Founded in 2018, Qoala is an omnichannel insurtech company that aims to democratize, empower and redefine insurance for customers across Southeast Asia.
Qoala leverages advanced technology to transform the insurance landscape, from product distribution to claims management. By integrating machine learning (ML) and digital workflows, the company offers a range of bite-size, low-cost insurance products embedded in everyday situations, such as flight delays, phone screen protection, and micro health insurance. This approach allows Qoala to cater to a broad audience with affordable, easily accessible solutions.
Qoala relies on an extensive network of 60 partner insurance companies and more than 60,000 digitally empowered agents. These agents benefit from instant commissions and a streamlined payment flow, enabling them to deliver superior service.
In 2023, Qoala processed over 115,000 claims and reached 45,000 new customers. This year, the startup secured a US$47 million Series C funding round to expand its embedded insurance business across Southeast Asia, and support its tech-driven initiatives, including the integration of AI to enhance the experiences of customers, agents, and partners. Qoala also plans to explore new products and channels for its agent platform and accelerate growth through strategic acquisitions and partnerships.
Backed by prominent investors, Qoala is active in Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand. The startup has secured a total of US$130 million in funding.
Roojai (Thailand)
Roojai, an insurtech startup founded in 2016, offers simple, affordable online insurance products including vehicle, critical illness, accident, and travel coverage. The company focuses on providing user-friendly services with a digital-first approach, making it easy for customers to get quotes, purchase insurance, and manage their policies online.
Roojai has been expanding aggressively across Southeast Asia, launching in Indonesia in 2022 and acquiring local insurance aggregator Lifepal in 2024. The company claims it experienced robust growth during its fiscal year 2023 starting April 2022 and ending March 2023, collecting over THB 1.3 billion (US$36 million) in premiums, which represents a 20% year-over-year (YoY) increase. It also says its number of customers grew by 15%.
According to CB Insights, Roojai has raised US$69 million in funding, its latest round being a US$42 million Series B secured in March 2023.
Most recently, the company was featured in the 2024 Forbes Asia 100 to Watch list, recognized for being among the continent’s most promising and dynamic companies to follow.
2024 has so far been a successful year for the global insurtech industry, with funding volume rising 44% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) in Q2 2024 and a surge in deal activity in Europe, according to CB Insights’ State of Insurtech Q2 2024 report.
In Q2 2024, global insurtech funding outpaced the growth seen across the broader venture and fintech landscapes, rising to a remarkable US$1.3 billion. The figure represents the highest funding level since Q1 2023, marking a five-quarter high.
During the quarter, the influence of Europe in the global insurtech landscape grew significantly, with the continent’s share of insurtech deals reaching a record 35%. Deal activity also increased, surging 67% QoQ to around US$500 million. This growth was driven by two significant US$93 million deals for Iceye, a Finnish provider of satellite imagery data, and Vitesse, a UK-based claims payments processor.
Featured image credit: edited from freepik
