NTUC Income (Income) unveiled nine dynamic start-ups which will participate in its equity-free accelerator programme, ‘Income Future Starter, powered by TAG.PASS’. The insurtech accelerator is the first by an insurer in partnership with Infocomm Investments Private Limited (IIPL).

The nine teams hold vast potential in preventive healthcare, enhanced customer experience and digital advisory services are:

Preventive Healthcare

 

Health2Sync (Taiwan) – Offers a healthcare management platform that revolutionises diabetic care through automated care and analytics;

 

 

 

 

Innoplaylab (Korea) – Provides a robotics solution which serves as a personal household assistant addressing the  needs of home security, home automation and interactive communication;

 

 

 

 

NephTech (Singapore) – Offers a device and analytics platform that provides kidney dialysis centres and patients with an evidence-based approach to blood vessel surveillance and management;

 

 

 

Enhanced Customer Experience

 

Anywhere 2 Go (Thailand) – Facilitates communication and motor insurance claims processing between drivers and their insurance companies via their proprietary mobile application, Claim Di;

 

 

 

 

Konolabs (Korea) – Provides smarter and more efficient scheduling through an email and chat-bot interface that is enabled by artificial intelligence;

 

 

 

 

Pear Comms (Singapore) – Offers a one-stop sales engagement CRM application that boosts the efficiency and productivity of sales professionals;

 

 

 

 

ThinkCloud (Taiwan) – Safeguards digital transactions with the “Selfie Video Signature”, a revolutionary solution for the authentication of eSignature;

 

 

 

Digital Advisory Services

 

PolicyPal (Singapore) – Automates insurance coverage gap analysis by enabling consumers to digitise their organisation and management of their insurance policies simply, transparently and objectively; and

 

 

 

 

Zumata (Singapore) – Builds customer-centric solutions that leverage artificial intelligence.

 

 

 

During the 11-week accelerator programme, the nine shortlisted start-ups will have access to expert mentors from Income, IIPL, Philips and KPMG, amongst others. They will be housed at BASH (Build Amazing Start-ups Here), a highly conducive tech-powerhouse environment that’s known to be Singapore’s largest start-up space.

 

Mr Ken Ng, Chief Executive of NTUC Income, said, “Given that insurtech is at its infancy in Singapore, we understand that start-ups working in this new frontier are unfamiliar with the insurance business. With ‘Income Future Starter, powered by TAG.PASS’, our intent is to match industry and domain knowledge to start-ups’ creativity and entrepreneurship so that together, we complement one another in co-developing practical and marketable solutions for real business and consumer needs.”

“We have been most impressed by the quality of the start-ups which had applied to the accelerator programme. The shortlisted ones offer not only innovative technologies but are also synergistic to Income’s business imperative to change the game with more customer-centric offerings.

We are heartened that a few teams already offer a prototype or product which is primed for adaptation, scaling-up and market testing. In our digital age where speed to market and business agility are key, these factors bode well for Income and start-ups in opening up new market segments,” added Mr Ng.

Each of the nine teams will receive S$28,000 as equity-free entrepreneur grant in addition to mentorship from specialists who will offer deep professional expertise and industry insights as part of the accelerator’s structured curriculum. Participants can look forward to intensive coaching to help enhance their tech and business know-how, as well as, dedicated support from the Income team, including access to senior management, and the opportunity to plug into Income’s ecosystem. Networking opportunities to meet like-minded entrepreneurs to build rapport and exchange ideas and experiences will also be in abundance.

 

Dr Alex Lin, Head of Infocomm Investments adds, “The start-ups selected for this inaugural programme run have products and solutions that display an alignment with Income’s business needs and gaps. As our ecosystem evolves into Generation 5, this programme fits into the envisioned end-to-end innovation journey.

Using NephTech as a case study, they first entered the ecosystem with just a technology and early business idea. They applied and got into TAG.PASS, our in-house pre-acceleration, which got them started on developing a prototype and validating their business model. Upon graduation with a minimum viable product, they’re ready for the next stage of growth and Income Future Starter with its customer base and domain expertise, catapults them to their next phase.”

 

‘Income Future Starter, powered by TAG.PASS’, which was open for registration in August this year, attracted a total of 190 applications from 20 countries offering solutions in, but not limited to the following areas.

– Enhance claims experience and processing

– Combat fraudulent claims

– Central needs analysis for customers

– Robo advisor

– Peer-to-peer insurance

– Integrated customer data analytics

The accelerator programme will kick-start on 9 January 2017, culminating in a Demo Day in 24 March 2017. For more information, please visit www.IncomeFutureStarter.com.