MetLife has chosen 10 startup companies to join its third annual Digital Accelerator, which it runs in concert with Techstars.
The chosen companies are:
- ChangEd, based in Chicago, which automates savings to help customers pay off debt
- Dot, based in New York, which is a mobile-based robotic financial advisor focusing on retirement savings
- FinGoal, based in Boulder, Colo., which uses AI to analyze consumer behavior and find less-expensive alternatives to items and services they buy
- Holisticly, of New York, which provides employees with a monthly wellness stipend to spend on fitness and mental health services
- InterGen Data, of Plano, Tex., an AI platform that predicts the likelihood of life-changing events
- Kinside, from Los Angeles, which is a digital platform for connecting pre-tax savings to daycare and preschools
- LivNao, from Sunnyvale, Calif., which uses "behavioral nudges" to improve mental health
- Mellow, based in Hong Kong, which helps parents teach their kids good money habits
- OfColor, from Maplewood, N.J., providing content, banking tools, and AI advice to help communities and people of color manage money
- VillagePlan, of Boston, which connects people to on-demand experts and tools to help care for aging loved ones.
Meredith Ryan-Reid, senior vice president of Financial Wellness & Engagement at MetLife, shared, “This year’s Digital Accelerator brings together a diverse cross-section of tech innovators and specialized financial wellness experts to respond to these needs.” Reid continues to share, “These startups will focus on developing compelling employee-benefit solutions that can flex to each customer’s needs while addressing the broader impacts of a challenging socio economic climate.”
The ten selected startups will work closely with MetLife leaders and Techstars mentors for the three-month program to develop, experiment and scale their ideas. They gain relationships with 20 venture capital firms and collaborations with universities including Carnegie Mellon, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the MIT Media Lab. The ACcelerator also has strategic partnerships with companies such as Cisco, IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, Dell, AT&T and Guidewire.
The insurtechs can also participate in MetLife’s ‘Ignition’ program, an annual one-day innovation hunt in which 15 to 20 tech of them have quick "speed-date" style meetings with MetLife business leaders to connect startup capabilities with business requirements and priorities.
