InsurTech NY and the Bermuda Business Development Agency are teaming up for the 2021 InsurTech Early-Stage Competition.

Bermuda’s lucrative reinsurance market could benefit from the arrangement, which calls in part for the BDA to work with the winner.

The 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. InsurTech NY is a global InsurTech hub, and the BDA is an independent economic development public-private partnership entity.

Along with the existing $200,000 prize, 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 also join the roster 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.

“Finding an initial regulatory sandbox and access to reinsurance partners is one of the biggest challenges for new digital MGAs,” David Gritz, co-founder of InsurTech NY, said in prepared remarks. “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 for Risk and Insurance Solutions, said the arrangement will help connect InsurTech founders with a number of key players in Bermuda’s insurance and reinsurance market, something that could be quite lucrative for startups.

“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,” DeSilva said.

Early-stage InsurTechs that generated less than $250,000 in annual revenue in 2020 are eligible for the competition. 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 29, 2021.

Source: InsurTech NY, BDA