Insurtech Start-Up Breach Launches Carrier, Raises Investment Round Led by RW3 and LightShed Ventures

Breach, an insurtech start-up that is building insurance technology and products for the growing cryptocurrency market, has been approved by the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) to launch a new class IIGB insurer. Breach was created with a mission to make crypto safer by creating net new insurance capacity and innovative insurance products. Today’s announcement is a foundational block in Breach’s missions to build a healthier ecosystem for all stakeholders.

The new carrier will allow Breach to underwrite emerging crypto risks as a primary insurer, with a key focus on the development of bespoke embedded products tailor made for crypto native technologies. There is a significant underwriting and actuarial gap for custom insurance solutions that the company is solving for with its expanded offering. The new offerings will be available through Breach’s proprietary insurtech platform via simple APIs that can help partners embed regulated insurance into their technology in a few weeks instead of several months.

The IIGB license is a special innovation class license designed for underwriting crypto risks. With the full-stack carrier, Breach has obtained regulatory authority to operate natively in both crypto and fiat with the ability to denominate policies, receive payments, and pay claims all in crypto. These capabilities are unique as only a handful of insurers currently have the license and also important to the crypto space as risks can now be underwritten natively in the same asset.

In support of Breach’s expansion as a global insurer, the company also raised a fresh round of funding led by RW3 and LightShed Ventures, with participation from Raptor, Foundation Capital, Road Capital, Republic Capital, and Alumni Ventures. The capital raised will be used to launch the new Bermuda insurance carrier and to continue growing its countrywide licensed MGA in the US. Breach is also expanding its proprietary insurtech platform for use with upcoming commercial-grade products.

Joe Bruzzesi, General Partner at RW3 and ex-BitGo head of Americas, was the deal lead for RW3 in the round. “As an investor and entrepreneur with more than six years of experience in the crypto industry, I have observed a growing demand for insurance. In my past role, where I helped develop one of the leading crypto custodians, I saw firsthand the imbalance between the supply and demand for insurance. I am confident that the Breach team has the necessary combination of experience and innovation to address one of the industry’s most significant challenges, and I am thrilled to support their mission,” said Joe Bruzzesi.

“The crypto industry has been grappling with rising regulatory scrutiny while looking for ways to gain credibility with both investors and the public. We view insurance as one of the first steps in professionalizing and safeguarding the industry, and we believe the Breach team has the experience, approach, and timing to the market to bring effective coverage to both individuals and businesses,” said LightShed Ventures General Partner/Co-Founder, Jamie Seltzer.

Breach is an insurtech with an exclusive focus on crypto risks. Although unregulated decentralized insurance protocols have gained popularity in the crypto space, Breach has instead placed an emphasis on developing creative and regulated insurance solutions by utilizing their deep crypto and insurance industry expertise.

Breach CEO, Eyhab Aejaz, said in a statement: “The launch of our insurance carrier is a major milestone not only for Breach, but also the crypto industry. With the capability to iterate on products, pricing, and the delivery of our products, we aim to unlock significant potential that the crypto market has been held back from.

I am ecstatic to have tier-one investors join our cap table as they have immediately jumped in and rolled up their sleeves to support us in our mission to bring scalable, regulated insurance to the crypto industry. Over the last two years we have continued to build on our underwriting capabilities and have drastically expanded our proprietary, best-in-class crypto hack event database, which will help us further refine pricing and further develop our modeling.”

For more information on Breach and its industry-leading services, visit https://breachinsured.com.

Contact Information:
JJ Nelson
Public Relations Lead
jnelson@interknow.com
3106258816


Topic: Press release summary

Regional insurtech Igloo named among “2021 Inclusive Fintech 50”

Regional insurtech, Igloo, was named as one of the winners of the 2021 Inclusive Fintech 50 (IF50) competition, an annual competition hosted by The Center for Financial Inclusion. In its 3rd year, IF50 recognises early-stage Fintechs that are helping low-income customers and micro and small enterprises who are affected by the pandemic and help them rebound, rebuild and recover.

Igloo’s partnerships with foodpanda in Singapore and Thailand reflect this – in the midst of the Covid-19, Igloo and foodpanda saw a need to provide food delivery riders and their families with a peace of mind as they travel the roads to meet heightened demand from Covid-19 dining restrictions.

Last year, Igloo partnered with foodpanda Thailand to introduce an insurance programme that provides free Covid-19 protection for delivery riders in Thailand. In Singapore this year, Igloo introduced PandaCare, a fuss-free and wallet-friendly insurance coverage for delivery riders. PandaCare is specifically designed for gig economy workers and encompasses six benefits: Accidental Death, Accidental Medical Expenses, Accidental Mobile Phone Screen Damage, Daily Hospital Cash, Permanent Total/Partial, Disablement and Temporary Disablement. These benefits also extend to their immediate family members.

In August 2021, Igloo also won ‘Insurtech Initiative of the Year’ at the 6th Insurance Asia Awards. The award recognises Igloo’s partnership with PhilPacific Insurance Brokers & Inc (Philinsure) in digitalising PhilInsure’s insurance products. This initiative aims to push digitalisation efforts to protect Filipinos and their family members against unpredictable risks such as natural catastrophes like typhoons, flooding, and earthquakes and of course, health risks, including Covid-19.

“We are honoured to be part of the Inclusive Fintech 50. Understanding the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has exerted on the industries, business models, and people’s lives, we at Igloo have accelerated technology and digital transformation to help bring support and peace of mind to people during these uncertain times. This achievement is also a validation of our mission to make insurance more accessible in Southeast Asia,” said Raunak Mehta, Chief Commercial Officer of Igloo.

This year, Igloo has established over 15 key partnerships in diverse industries to make insurance more accessible across the region. In July, the insurtech company partnered with regional leading food delivery platform foodpanda Singapore to launch the insurance product for gig economy workers. In September, Igloo successfully launched partnerships with leading e-Wallet platforms in the Philippines GCash and DANA in Indonesia to provide online shopping insurance product (PH) and phone screen protection insurance product (ID). The company aims to launch more strategic collaborations with partners in different industries ranging across e-commerce, lifestyle, and health tech by the end of this year.

About Igloo

Igloo, previously known as “Axinan”, is the first full-stack insurtech firm to emerge from Singapore. It has offices in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam, and tech centres are located in China. With a mission of making insurance accessible for all, the firm leverages big data, real-time risk assessment, and end-to-end automated claims management to create B2B2C insurance solutions for platform companies and insurance companies. Igloo’s insurance solutions enable companies to eliminate their exposure to operational risk, create new revenue streams, and optimize and enhance existing products and services. In April 2020, Igloo successfully closed its Series A+ funding round worth US$8.2 million, bringing its total funding to US$16 million from global investors.

Igloo is led by a core team that comprises top talent from the technology and insurance industries hailing from global corporations including Facebook, Grab, Flipkart, Garena, Manulife, Shopee, Yahoo! and Zalora. For more information, please visit https://www.iglooinsure.com

Media Queries
PRecious Communications for Igloo
igloo@preciouscomms.com


Topic: Awards