Italy, one of the main European insurance markets, has a rich insurtech sector that has witnessed exponential growth on the back of booming investment and increasing collaboration with incumbents to develop innovative products and services.
Industry trade group Italian Insurtech Association identified more than 60 insurtech companies that operated in Italy as of Q2’2021, including foreign companies like Vlot, an enterprise software-as-a-software (SaaS) insurtech company, and Kasko, an insurtech-as-a-service platform from the UK.
These insurtech companies operate across eight main segments with Awareness, Research and Purchase being the largest category. Companies in this space primarily work as insurance intermediaries and have built ties with one or more companies. They interface directly with end-customers and allow users to receive information and advice on insurance products, as well as compare and purchase these services.
Prevention, Risk Management and Fraud is another fast-growing segment, with companies offering risk analysis, prevention and mitigation solutions, serving insurers or customers directly. These companies typically have expertise in the field of data collection and analysis, and leverage technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).
The Use and Servicing category, another large insurtech segment in Italy, comprises companies providing solutions in customer-facing areas of the value chain such as claims and assistance.
In this booming sector, we look today at six fast-growing insurtech companies in Italy. These ventures have made significant strides over the past years, and should be followed very closely.
Neosurance
Founded in 2016, Neosurance is a licensed broker in the European Union (EU) providing insurance companies with an AI-based omnichannel distribution platform, allowing insurers to deliver scenario-based tailored policies.
Neosurance’s core solution is designed to suggest the right policy at the right time, allowing partnered insurers to offer the right coverage when the customer actually needs it. The offer is made through a personalized push notification to customers’ mobile devices with the proposed microinsurance coverage for a specific event.
Neosurance was awarded the Insurance & Previdenza 2017 Elite prize in the Best insurance Startup category by major Italian newspaper Milano Finanza. In 2017, it partnered with AXA Italy to offer travel insurance products exclusively to users of Tiassisto24, an auto concierge community app.
Neosurance raised EUR 1.1 million in funding in April 2020 at a pre-money valuation of EUR 10 billion.
Yolo
Yolo provides a platform for on-demand and pay-per-use insurance products, focusing on health and travel, as well as bikes, pets, appliances, and bad weather insurance products.
Yolo enables customers to access and sign up to products of the main insurance groups operating in Italy and internationally, in real-time. The offer is based on actual customer needs and profiles, and is adapted to fit their habits, as well as their personal and professional lives, and leverages technologies including the Internet-of-Things (IoTs), AI and chatbots.
Yolo recently won the Best Insurtech title at this year’s Italy Insurance Awards. The startup has raised about EUR 10 million in funding so far, according to BeBeez.
MioAssicuratore
MioAssicuratore is an online insurance dedicated broker in Italy, helping customers find, compare, buy and manage their policies. Through the platform, users can choose policies, compare different estimates obtained automatically or through the advice of an expert, purchase them from the comfort of their home, and have all their policies access through their dashboard.
The platform uses proprietary algorithms to analyze a customer’s risk profile and insurance needs, and then suggesting the user with the most relevant coverages that suit their needs and requirements most.
MioAssicuratore is partnered with most major insurance firms in Italy. As of May 2020, MioAssicuratore boasted over 425,000 registered users and had distributed 554 insurance products from 32 different companies.
The company has raised EUR 1.8 million in funding so far, according to data from Crunchbase.
Insoore
Insoore is an on-demand, real-time damage assessment platform helping insurance and fleet management companies optimize the claims management process through video-photographic inspections and damage estimations made by a community of thousands of experts.
The solution streamlines the claims process, eases information collection and reduces fraud by providing companies with access to a community of users available to make certified video-photographic documentation.
Insoore’s partners include Generali, ALD Automotive (owned by Société Générale), Helvetia, and Zurich. The startup has raised EUR 1.6 million in funding so far, according to data from Dealroom.
Healthy Virtuoso
Healthy Virtuoso incentivizes and rewards people to live a healthy lifestyle, helping corporates to improve the engagement and the health of their customers and employees.
Through Health Virtuoso, users can take part in competitions, and win daily rewards based on their healthy lifestyle. It works through a mobile app which uses data coming from Google Fit (Android) and Health (iOS). The aim of Virtuoso is to help people to become more aware of their health and to understand the importance of a correct lifestyle, improving it day after day.
Companies that are using Healthy Virtuoso include Intesa Sanpaolo, KPMG, Mediolanum Bank, Mediobanca, Zurich, Telepass, Milkman, Birra Peroni, Indivior, Reinsurance Group of America, Mansutti and Unifarm.
Healthy Virtuoso, a Startupbootcamp 2019 alum, has raised EUR 1.2 million in funding, according to data from Crunchbase.
Lokky
Digital insurance broker Lokky has developed a digital platform through which it offers insurance brokerage services focused on micro-enterprises, professionals and freelancers. It uses technologies to analyze customer requirements and understand their real insurance needs, automatically identifying the most suitable products to best manage business risks.
Lokky covers the insurance needs of more than 200 types of micro-enterprises, professionals and freelancers, with coverage for civil liability, professional liability, legal protection, accidents, fire, theft and other damages. Its proprietary algorithm has already been tested on more than 40,000 real customers.
Lokky has raised EUR 1.6 million in funding so far, according to a Nordic 9 report.
