Munich Re strikes insurtech partnership with Plug and Play in China

Munich Re has partnered with Plug and Play, a Silicon Valley-based accelerator and corporate innovation platform, to collaborate with emerging insurtech startups in China.

Plug and Play Insurtech enables corporations to engage with startups that may complement their respective suite of offerings or create new potential revenue streams.

The startups accepted into the programme will receive funding from Plug and Play Ventures, and access to the resources of the founding anchor partner Munich Re.

“We have successfully collaborated with Plug and Play through our innovation lab in Silicon Valley and this new agreement extends our efforts to cultivate innovation in the insurance industry in China," said Tobias Farny, chief executive, Asia Pacific, Greater China, Australia, New Zealand, Munich Re. "It comes at an exciting time when China has truly established itself as a technology leader in a number of areas such as e-payments, artificial intelligence, robotics and machine learning, all of which are having a significant impact on the future of the insurance industry.”

Christoph Hoch, chief executive of Greater China, Munich Re, added: “This is the latest milestone in efforts to lead innovation and development across our business in China. In 2015, we set up Munich Re’s first Innovation Lab in Beijing, followed by the establishment of Si Tao Limited, our dedicated insurance solutions development hub. Through this new collaboration with Plug and Play, I am confident that we will be able to combine the best of our collective capabilities, expertise and local talent to play an important role in accelerating the development of tech-driven insurance solutions for clients here in China.”

Plug and Play has recently announced its first batch of 16 insurtech startups in China, after screening over 500 firms.

Peter Xu, managing director of Plug and Play China, said: “We are honored to have Munich Re partner with us in China. We believe this expansion of our partnership will amplify the innovation development of Munich Re in China and the rest of the global market. I have full confidence and affirmation of the innovative solutions that Chinese startups bring to the global insurance industry.”

Ali Safavi, founder and global head of Plug and Play Insurtech, said: “We’d like to help our corporate partners plug into the thriving China insurtech ecosystem as we’ve seen impressive growth in high impact technologies like AI or E-commerce coming out from China. We have already uncovered some fascinating entrepreneurs whose technology seems to surpass some of the leading edge solutions we are exploring in other well-known tech markets.

Safavi added: "I urge all of our partners to explore the China market with us and see the technology fueling the world’s second largest economy. Together with Munich Re, we envision bringing the insurance industry in China to a new height.”