Insurtech weekly news roundup: Oct. 7

Lemonade, which was founded in the US in 2015, is entering the UK market through a long-term strategic partnership with UK insurer Aviva. It also operates in France, Germany and the Netherlands.

“We believe millions of local renters will appreciate what Lemonade has to offer,” Daniel Schrieber, Lemonade’s co-CEO and co-founder, said in prepared remarks about the UK expansion.

The pitch is that customers can get a quote, purchase insurance, file a claim and get paid within seconds. This can be done on any device.

Lemonade’s other pitch point is its Giveback program, through which it donates leftover premiums to non-profit organizations chosen by its customers, supporting causes such as equality, climate and poverty.

Majesco

Majesco, a provider of cloud insurance software products and services, acquired Global IQX, an SaaS-based insurtech that helps insurers streamline, automate and transform their business processes in the L&AH space.

Neither side disclosed financial terms.

For Majesco, the deal gives it 16 additional customers and new technology for a variety of insurance business processes. The New Jersey-based company added that the acquisition furthers its customer-centric growth strategy and helps make insurance processes both faster and easier.

Adam Elster, Majesco’s CEO, said combining Global IQX’s technology with its own would help provide the L&AH insurance market with better and more innovative technology.

“We are excited to have the talented Global IQX team bring their extensive knowledge and market experience providing critical depth and expertise to our rapidly growing customer base,” Elster said in prepared remarks.

Joyn Insurance

Joyn Insurance, an insurtech MGA, has expanded into Utah, New Mexico and Oklahoma for property, general liability and excess coverage.

Overall, the New York-based insurtech now accepts submissions in 38 states and Washington, D.C.

The startup formed initially in late 2020 and launched officially in summer 2021, focused on commercial insurance for small and middle market customers. Joyn leverages data and technology to provide a better experience for brokers and clients, using cloud-based and data-centric technology, with machine learning-augmented underwriting for each customer until a human takes over.

The company’s founders and many initial employees were part of Blackboard Insurance, American International Group’s commercial insurance technology platform experiment that shut down in early 2020.

CoverTree

Insurtech MGA CoverTree is partnering with insurance software company Socotra to launch affordable insurance for the manufactured home market.

The insurance product will target owners, renters and landlords of manufacturing homes.

Socotra’s software will help CoverTree automate 92% of its applications with straight-through processing, letting their customers purchase a policy online in less than three minutes. The partnership is also designed to help customers save up to 40% in premiums.

CoverTree, based in Detroit, focuses on bringing digital distribution, automated underwriting and data-driven pricing to specialty lines of personal insurance. The company’s manufactured home product is available in Arizona, Indiana, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, Illinois and Tennessee. Socotra’s core platform helps insurers and insurtech MGAs accelerate product development, reduce maintenance costs and improve customer experiences.

Breeze

Breeze, an online disability insurance MGA, launched new paid parental leave insurance for employers.

The coverage is designed to support employees who need to take time away from work to care for their families. It enhances Breeze’s turnkey online platform, which already includes short-term disability insurance, two types of long-term disability insurance and critical illness insurance.

Breeze, which is based in Omaha, calls the product “Leave by Breeze.”

Consumers, employees, agents and brokers are the target customers for Breeze’s platform.

Cover Whale

Cover Whale Insurance Solutions is partnering with Appalachian Underwriters to expand their respective agent and customer networks, capacity, and industry impact.

Cover Whale is an insurtech MGA focused on the commercial trucking industry, and Appalachian is a full-service MGA and wholesale insurance brokerage.

The new partnership is designed to help Cover Whale distribute its offerings more widely and also boost its capacity to serve more US truckdrivers. In tandem with this, AUI will launch a product that helps its retail agent partners better serve existing clients and win new business.

Cover Whale’s coverage is informed by technology, underwriting and data, and it bills its process for consumers as offering “the industry’s most agent-friendly online quoting experience.”