Insurtech Galileo secures $2m investment from Greenlight Re

Hong Kong-based blockchain company Galileo Platforms has secured $2 million Series A funding from specialist property/casualty reinsurer Greenlight Capital Re to accelerate its growth.

The investment was made through the reinsurer's subsidiary Greenlight Re Innovations, which was launched in March 2018 to seek technology and innovation opportunities relating to the reinsurance and insurance markets.

The co-investors included Scale Investors in Australia and some private investors in Hong Kong.

Galileo was formed in May 2016 by Annette King and Mark Wales. The company aims to revolutionise the insurance sector with the use of blockchain technology by reducing costs in the distribution chain, and enabling more client centred, agile design of products - including real-time transactions for purchasing and claims, on-demand insurance and micro-duration insurance innovations.

Galileo said it will partner with disruptors to the insurance industry; as well as incumbent insurers, distributors and reinsurers to bring insurance to the uninsured.

"We're excited to have Greenlight Re, Scale Investors and the private investors in our Series A funding round, which will accelerate our growth," said King, chair of Galileo Platforms. "We share a common vision that blockchain technology can transform the insurance industry, by enabling more agile product design, making transactions more transparent, and enabling real-time transactions amongst all the parties."

CEO Wales added: "Blockchain is a fundamental technology that will lead the much-needed change in the insurance sector. Our platform takes much of the functionality typically found in legacy policy administration systems and encodes it in smart contracts in a blockchain. This mutualises the policy administration function, reducing costs and creating new opportunities for insurance."

Greenlight Re chief executive Simon Burton said: "The management team of Galileo has a unique combination of insurance leadership experience and expertise in applying distributed ledger technology to real world insurance applications. We are excited about this partnership and the opportunity to build a business of the future with Annette and Mark, as this aligns with our growth strategy which has technology and innovation at the heart of our business."

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