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5 Questions with Insurtech Influencers – Dr. Robin Kiera

Insurtech is a topic gaining traction in all medias – traditional, digital, and social – and in the insurance community on a wider scale. Many ambitious insurtechs are disrupting the market, innovating the industry, and raising investments.  

That is why it felt right to put the topic in the spotlight and talk about the most promising start-ups, obstacles holding back innovation, but also attractive fields for funding and the future of insurance. And who other would we turn to than leading industry experts and insurtech influencers?

Here it is, “5 Questions with Insurtech Influencers”! To kick off the series, we have Dr. Robin Kiera, the Founder and CEO of Digitalscouting, an insurtech and digital transformation expert, speaker, entrepreneur, top-ranked insurance and finance influencer.

Please name three of the most promising insurtech start-ups in 2021. Why exactly these?

1) Ritablock 

This company applies blockchain technology and solves a very concrete problem: exchanging and standardising accounting data between direct and reinsurer. This might sound boring, but I personally think it’s super exciting. No surprise that they are a partner of the B3i initiative. 

2) There are several new companies specialised on run-off portfolios in life and non-life. I think this is a totally underestimated market and way too less talked about. 

3) iptiQ 

This tech provider, powered by SwissRE, is one of the boldest moves in the reinsurance industry. Their collaboration with IKEA or UBS is a remarkable milestone, and not only for iptiQ. 

What is the biggest obstacle for insurance start-ups, that holds back market disruption and meaningful change?  

The issue is that most have not found a way to excite the end consumer or salesperson to raise interest in our products and services. Why are consumers standing in line for a phone that serves them for two years, but not for life-saving products that will help them for 20 years? This is not the problem of the customer, it’s ours. We do a very good job at marketing.

 

If you were to establish your own insurance start-up, which problem would you solve and why?

I set up Digitalscouting as a consulting and marketing firm to help insurers and insurtechs conquer the hearts and minds of their customers. I am working with our clients on solving this problem.

Which insurtech field will be the most impactful and attract funding in 2021?  

We see only a few early-stage, but a lot of later-stage investments. Considering the innovation life cycle, this is not surprising. I believe we will see success stories coming from unexpected areas.

The future of insurance: what makes you hopeful, what worries you?

Bold decision-makers at incumbents and founders give me hope in combination with so many professionals around the world, trying to push the industry forward. I only fear an old and toxic culture and some arrogance in thinking that we as an industry are somehow special, and don’t need to react to the never-ending changing society around us. There is a saying in German: If you don’t go with time, you will be gone in some time.

About 

Robin Kiera is an insurtech and digital transformation expert, speaker, entrepreneur, top-ranked insurance and finance influencer. With over 10 years of experience in traditional companies as well as start-ups, he chose to devote himself to digital change. He combines experience in leading large transformation projects in the insurance industry with a deep understanding of digital products and business models. 

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