InsurTech NY, a global InsurTech hub, announced on Thursday it has joined forces with the Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA), Bermuda’s independent economic development public-private partnership, to launch the 2021 InsurTech Early-Stage Competition. According to the duo, this competition attracts up to 100 promising startups from around the world with an opportunity to showcase their business and market potential to early-stage investors and insurance leaders.
“Adding to the existing prize pool of $200,000, the BDA will award the winning team with a four-night stay in Bermuda, a business concierge service to connect startup founders to professional advisors, and pay the fees associated with participating in the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) regulatory sandbox or innovation hub. The winning team’s proposal will be subject to the BMA’s formal application review, and once approved, will benefit from the Regulator’s extensive guidance.”
Susan Pateras, a BDA board member and an insurance industry expert with more than two decades of experience, will join the list of investor and insurance carrier judges. Judges comprise angel investors, venture capitalists, and insurance carriers including New York Angels, Park City Angels, Anthemis, Six Thirty, Sure Ventures, Luge Capital, Transverse, Nationwide, GreenlightRe, and Grange Insurance. While sharing more details about the competition, David Gritz, co-founder of InsurTech NY. stated:
“Finding an initial regulatory sandbox and access to reinsurance partners is one of the biggest challenges for new digital MGAs. The Bermuda market represents an exceptional opportunity for new InsurTechs and our partnership with the Bermuda Business Development Agency is one example of how we strive to be an international gateway for InsurTechs to find global opportunities for growth.”
Jasmine DeSilva, the BDA’s Business Development Manager responsible for Risk and Insurance Solutions, added:
“The InsurTech Competition will connect some of the brightest InsurTech founders to Bermuda’s world-leading and innovative insurance and reinsurance market. We encourage those looking to accelerate innovation in the industry to apply and look forward to welcoming the winning team to Bermuda, the world’s risk capital with over $100 billion in reinsurance premium, access to specialty market carriers, and a friendly regulatory environment for quality startups.”
Early-stage companies eligible for the competition are InsurTechs that generated less than $250,000 in annual revenue in 2020. The top 10 finalists will be invited to present at the InsurTech Spring Conference and will be announced in early March 2021. The deadline for submissions is January 29th.
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