Insurtechs in the Nordic countries have developed a wide range of innovations, says Sollers Consulting in its new Nordic Insurtech Report. Investors are expected to put more focus on economic outcomes. But Nordic insurtechs have developed strategies in response. 

Northern European countries are among the most digitally developed in the world. The existing digital infrastructures make it comparatively easy for insurtechs to bring new solutions to market. Insurance start-ups build on the experience in their home markets and export their innovations to other countries, Sollers Consulting underlines in its new Nordic Insurtech Report. The report provides an overview of 31 insurtech companies from Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark. The analysis looks at business models and technological innovation areas of insurance start-ups from the north of Europe.  

“Northern European countries have introduced many data standards. This has driven technological progress, especially as the insurance industry needs to modernise. The wave of insurtechs has made insurers aware of their shortcomings in digitalisation,” says Slawek Gdyk, Lead Consultant at Sollers.   

Nordic insurtechs are developing their offerings in different areas of the insurance value chain, the report says. About a third are active in property and casualty insurance, which includes motor insurance, home insurance and other property insurance. A fifth of the start-ups in the report are active in life and health insurance, and one in six start-ups focuses on providing technology to insurers. The business models are almost evenly split between business-to-consumer (B2C), business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C), a mix of both approaches. Insurtechs in Northern Europe put a strong focus on white-label offerings and embedded insurance. Embedded insurance is a technology-enabled add-on service to a product or service offering. 

“Embedded insurance has significant potential. It makes insurance functions easily usable by companies outside the insurance sector. This also applies to banks when they introduce digital bancassurance,” comments Gdyk. 

Nordic insurtech companies are benefiting from digital development in their home markets and expanding into other countries. Start-ups from Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark are active in 29 countries in Asia, the Americas and Europe. Investors will increasingly focus on value generation. Scandinavian insurtechs are therefore expected to leverage their digital expertise and make greater use of partnership models. 

“Now that insurtechs are entering the next phase of their development, partnerships play an increasingly important role,” emphasises Marcin Pluta, managing partner and co-founder of Sollers Consulting. 

The Nordic Insurtech Report can be downloaded here:  https://sollers.eu/insights/nordic-insurtech-report/