NAU County signs deal for AI crop platform; Cowbell Cyber announces new hires, Cowbell Re: Roundup

January 26, 2022 7:15 AM

Tea plants and trees with lime-coated trunks at Araksa Tea Garden in Mae Tang District, Chiang Mai, Thailand, on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022. Thailand’s consumer confidence rose for the fourth straight month to a 9-month high in December, supported by economic stimulus measures and lower new Covid infections, according to the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce. Photographer: Andre Malerba/Bloomberg — Tea plants and trees with lime-coated trunks at Araksa Tea Garden in Mae Tang District, Chiang Mai, Thailand, on Jan. 15, 2022.

The following news stories were curated and condensed by the Digital Insurance team.

Zurich creates new scholarships

Zurich North America is now accepting applications for its Zurich Fellows scholarships, which were created to help people with diverse backgrounds advance and pursue degrees in fields related to insurance. The first Zurich Fellows will be admitted to St. John’s University in the Maurice R. Greenberg School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science in Sept. 2022. The 10 scholarships will be $10,000 each. "I am delighted that we are collaborating with St. John's University to offer these scholarships," said Jeanette Kilo-Smith, Zurich North America's head of diversity and inclusion and the executive sponsor of the scholarship program, in a statement. "The Zurich Fellows program reflects our commitment to help recruit, retain and advance diverse talent in our business and industry." Zurich also recently announced leadership changes within the company. Jason Meador, currently head of captives at Zurich North America, will now lead the RCIS crop insurance business. Alban LaLoum, head of customer distribution marketing and regional management at Zurich Canada, is now the chief customer officer at Zurich North America. Dawn Hiestand, head of operations for Zurich North America’s direct markets business, is now head of captives replacing Meador. Kelly Kinzer is now officially the head of construction.

NAU County signs deal for AI crop platform

Agriculture Intelligence, an AI and automation company providing cloud-based precision data for crops, has announced a multi-year partnership with NAU County Insurance Company, a QBE Insurance Company offering crop insurance, for its AI platform Agroview. The platform uses aerial footage of crops captured by drones and AI software to count and measure each tree in a grove. "At NAU Country, we have high standards for our technology partners. We have heavily invested in drone technology, but knew that with the right partner we could do even more – we could use flight imagery and machine learning to help automate tree counts," said Michael Deal, chief marketing and technology officer at NAU Country, in a statement. "We expect proven, accurate, and consistent results. In Agroview, we found all three of those qualities. We also see that the team behind Agroview is creating the next wave of proven technology that our industry needs."

Cowbell Cyber announces new hires, Cowbell Re

Cowbell Cyber, an AI-powered cyber insurance provider, has hired two new executives. Theresa Le joins the company as the head of claims and risk engineering. Le most recently served as vice president, cyber claims expert at Swiss Re. Dan Palardy has been hired as the lead actuary. Palardy was most recently with Axis Reinsurance as senior pricing actuary, in professional lines. "I am delighted to welcome both Theresa and Dan to the Cowbell team," said Trent Cooksley, co-founder and COO at Cowbell Cyber, in a statement. "Not only do they both bring extensive industry experience, they also have proven track records in cyber insurance. Theresa and Dan will be instrumental in continuing to advance our continuous underwriting and closed-loop risk management approach." Cowbell also recently announced the launch of Cowbell Re to address the increase in cyber insurance demand. The company reached $200 million in premium run-rate in 2021 and its distribution network includes 2,000 agencies and 12,000 producers across the U.S.

Online embedded insurance, Bubble launches

Bubble, a digital home and life insurance provider, launched its turnkey insurance-in-a-box offering. Real estate and mortgage companies are now able to use the service and embed digital homeowners and life insurance policies into a transaction. The company also recently announced pre-seed funding of $1.75 million led by The House Fund. Bubble’s AI recommendation engine finds homeowners insurance from Stillwater along with Pacific Life and SBLI, for term life. Integrations with other insurers are planned for the future. "Bubble streamlines the natural flow of life events: starting a family, buying a home, insuring it, and insuring everyone living there," said Bubble co-founder and CEO Avi Gupta, in a statement. "Millennials especially stand to reap the benefits of bundling life and home insurance while they're young and healthy. They can lock in a great rate for the next several decades. Our mission is to make it as simple and straightforward as possible for them to do that."

Conning survey shows engagement in ESG

U.S. insurance companies are interested in incorporating environmental, social and governance factors into their investment strategies. A new survey from Conning, a global insurance asset management firm, suggests respondents began incorporating ESG factors over the last two years. The reason for the change is likely related to corporate reputation.“Despite the many considerations, resources, and challenges involved with implementing ESG-focused investing, insurers seem to understand that, ultimately, the benefits outweigh the costs,” said Matt Daly, head of corporate and municipal teams at Conning, in a press release. “Given the responses we saw in this survey, ESG is likely to become an even more central part of insurance asset management in the near future.”

Pie Insurance releases pay-as-you-go billing solution

Pie Insurance, a workers’ compensation insurtech for small businesses, launched a new pay-as-you-go billing solution. Policyholders are able to pay their policy through a payroll cycle and avoid an initial deposit. "We couldn't be more excited to launch Pie's Pay-as-you-go offering through our partner agents and directly to small businesses," said Danielle Lucas, director of business development at Pie, in a press release. "By using a more convenient billing option, customers will have more cash flow and can focus on growing their businesses."

Branch Insurance launches in six new states

Branch Insurance, a full-stack insurtech, has expanded its offerings into six new states including Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah and West Virginia. Consumers are able to purchase home and auto insurance from Branch in 19 states. "Geographic availability is one of the most important initiatives here at Branch to deliver on our mission of making insurance less expensive for more people. Being nationally available enables us to grow our community of members and create meaningful embedded partnerships, so we can offer more affordable insurance to consumers in the moments they need it most," said Steve Lekas, co-founder and CEO of Branch, in a press release.

Obie partners with Munich Re company

Obie, an insurance purchasing online platform for landlords, is partnering with Digital Partners, a Munich Re company, to provide insurance offerings in minutes. The partnership will allow landlords to obtain bindable insurance quotes for properties. “We are thrilled to be partnering with Obie. Together we are providing a more accessible insurance offering for an underserved segment of the insurance market,” said Courtney Hill, head of Digital Partners North America, in a statement. “Obie has a proven track record of success when it comes to instant landlord insurance, and we are looking forward to partnering with them to expand their offering.”

Nintex, Insuresoft team up on digital transformation

Insuresoft, a provider of core insurance software for property and casualty insurers, and Nintex, a process intelligence and automation company, are working together to integrate Esignatures from Nintex AssureSign into Insuresoft’s Diamond Platform. This partnership allows Insuresoft to provide its insurer customers a digital signing experience integrated into core policy processing. "Our customers are excited about providing differentiated experiences to their policyholders," said Josh Hall, VP of sales & marketing at Insuresoft, in a press release. "The pre-integration with Nintex AssureSign allows our insurance carrier and MGA partners to quickly evolve their processes to meet modern consumer expectations for digital self-service and claims processing times."

Tractable releases AI Property

Tractable, an AI visual assessment and disaster recovery insurtech, has launched AI Property. The solution helps assess the damage to buildings from natural disasters like hurricanes and floods using a smartphone. The app takes photos and submits them to Tractable’s AI platform which can appraise and assess damage. Tractable has been working in Japan with MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings to use AI Property to help homeowners in Japan since last year. "Climate change is leading to more frequent and severe natural disasters,” said Alex Dalyac, co-founder and CEO of Tractable, in a press release. “Hurricanes leave households without a proper home to live in. By allowing homeowners to immediately self-assess their homes via AI-augmented damage appraisal, insurers can intervene faster and at greater scale, to help their customers at their time of greatest need." Tractable also recently announced the company is joining Guidewire PartnerConnect as a solution partner.