Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich) is inviting startups from around the world to enter a new edition of the Zurich Innovation Championship for a chance to grow and collaborate on solutions to some of the insurance industry’s biggest challenges.
Zurich kicked off the championship at the Web Summit 2021 in Lisbon, Portugal. Registration via www.zurich.com/zic is open until Dec. 23, 2021. Zurich will select up to 12 promising startups in early 2022 for an intensive three-month Innovation Championship Accelerator phase.
“We want to work with hungry startups who are willing to explore and shape the future of our industry,” said Giovanni Giuliani, Group Head of Strategy, Innovation and Business Development. “Matching our reach and scale with the new ideas of startups has proven to be a winning combination for the Zurich Innovation Championship and we are proud that it has become one of the must-attend programs of the global startup tournament scene. I expect a great line-up again this time around.”
Zurich is seeking startups with initiatives to address business challenges related to simplicity, sustainability, and prevention and mitigation.
In the first category, Simplicity, startups will be able to propose simple solutions that improve the insurance value chain from risk assessment to elements of insurance distribution.
The second category, Sustainability, is dedicated to sustainable solutions for our customers, communities, brokers and employees, as well as solutions to help build confidence in today’s society.
The third category, Prevention and Mitigation, aims to find solutions that will improve the customer experience and help better understand, prevent and manage risks. A fourth category, Insurance Reimagined, welcomes all other initiatives designed to create differentiating propositions related to Zurich’s purpose to ‘build a brighter future together’.
Accelerator phase with financial support
As one of the largest open innovation contests with startups in the insurance sector, Zurich Innovation Championship offers young entrepreneurs substantial benefits in terms of funding, promotion and implementation. A unique financial support of up to USD 100,000 will be provided for each of the 12 startups in a three-month accelerator phase, together with support from Zurich experts. These will allow the startups to prove themselves and prepare an operational plan to grow the joint business proposition.
The accelerator phase is a new addition to the latest edition of Zurich Innovation Championship, taking place from April to June 2022 and followed by an implementation phase until September 2022.
In the 2019/2020 edition, three winners were selected. Gold went to ClaimFlo, a processing platform for property and casualty claims developed by New York-based fintech Safekeep. Two startups claimed Silver: Pops! Diabetes Care, which offers a new way to test blood sugar levels, and Jupiter Intelligence, whose modeling tool factors in ongoing climate change. They emerged from a field that began in 2019 with more than 1,350 entrants.
There are currently more than 12 innovation projects underway with entrants from the first two editions of Zurich Innovation Championship, demonstrating Zurich’s commitment to collaboration.
Further information
For applications, additional background and regular updates: www.zurich.com/zic
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