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Accelerating growth: thoughts on InsurTech Week

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Thoughts on InsurTech Week

Nick Mair, CEO of DQPro took part in the GIA’s InsurTech Week in Des Moines, offering fresh prospects in the Midwest insurance hub.

Opportunities to travel are few and far between this year, and InsurTech Week 2020 was no exception. In its sixth iteration, the Goal Insurance Accelerator’s (GIA) event took place virtually between the 12th and 16th October.

So no travel to Des Moines then. However, the opportunity to accelerate growth by mixing with a new community of potential investors, thought leaders and customers, albeit virtually, was very real.

The event focused on a group of young and growing companies. With products picked on merit and US market potential, DQPro was privileged and delighted to make the selection of 20 companies showcased this year, providing us with a range of promotional and networking opportunities.

The GIA runs one of perhaps a dozen major accelerators for insurance startups, and Des Moines, the state capital of Iowa, has grown into its own Midwest hub of around 200 insurance organisations.

Whilst our recent growth means we’re not on the lookout for investment via the GIA’s separate accelerator programme, we certainly benefitted from being part of its InsurTech Week, which included around 20 insurance carriers and around 150 participants.

The event provided some great access into the vast interior of the US market. We gained new connections and got some future business development conversations out of it, with a few great new prospects.

Some of those companies taking part in the event we simply wouldn’t come across in London. Others, the multinationals, we would, but it might as well be another company, because out in the US it’s a very different subsidiary with a separate decision-making process. In the latter case, the London market subsidiary may already be a customer, so the new contacts made in America present a valuable expansion opportunity.

It was great to be in discovery mode, and all of this provided some great inroads for us. The US represents a valuable market, so a healthy reassessment of product market fit is required for success.

We have a great starting point because we are already accustomed to US business through Lloyd’s, US specialty business and the Excess and Surplus lines market. As we continue to build out our vision of creating a global library of control checks, specific to each major insurance market, the US presents huge potential. With our first major customer established we have considerable potential to expand further.

The London market is not unique: commercial and specialty business written by US carriers present exactly the same internal data challenges, process inefficiencies and system constraints. The potential for DQPro to provide continuous operational assurance in the US is immense and we’re super grateful to the GIA team for this first opportunity!