Tokio Marine partners with tech start-up incubator Plug and Play

Japanese property and casualty insurance group Tokio Marine Holdings has partnered with Singapore based Plug and Play's insurtech program.

Plug and Play is an innovation platform that supports a global ecosystem and venture fund developing early-to-growth stage technology startups. Prior to launching the business in 2006, founder and CEO Saeed Amidi supported the early incubation of now global tech giants Google and Paypal by housing them in an office in Silicon Valley, investing in and accelerating them.

Tokio Marine first established a partnership with Plug and Play in Silicon Valley in December 2017. However, this latest link up gives the P&C insurer access to the platform’s network as well as the opportunity to work with curated startups from the APAC region. The insurer will be able to run tests and potentially implement cutting edge technology throughout its offices in Southeast Asia.

Hidemi Harada, vice president and head of digital strategy at Tokio Marine Asia, said: "Plug and Play and Tokio Marine are no strangers; we had a partnership with [them] back in Silicon Valley. This partnership paved the way to introduce us to 800 start-up companies globally and a better understanding of the insurtech landscape [through a] global lens.

“In Asia, we look forward to working with [the program] to accelerate and fast track our development with practical digital initiatives for the markets in the region and advance our innovative insurance business models for the whole group. We also look forward to leveraging its network for cross-industry engagement in the internet of things, mobility, healthcare and smart cities."

Last August, Plug and Play launched its insurtech program in Singapore and has accelerated 49 startups to date.

Program partners can influence the focus of each cohort, which enables them to target priority areas in their business and search for different solutions. Including Tokio Marine, Plug and Play now works with seven financial institutions in fintech and insurtech programs.

Kayvon Deldar, the platform’s program head of insurtech in Singapore, said: "We're very excited to expand our relationship with Tokio Marine to Southeast Asia, where we're looking to continue upon the success and learnings we've seen in Silicon Valley.

“We look forward to connecting their regional and country teams to the most relevant startups in insurtech and adjacent industries with the ultimate goal of helping them develop their digital and innovative business initiatives. I speak not only for ourselves, but our startups, that Tokio Marine's regional and global business is a great strategic partner to have on our platform."

Plug and Play Singapore serves as the regional hub for the company’s corporate innovation and venture investments in Southeast Asia. The platform said it has helped more than 3,000 startups to date, with the help of its network of more than 200 corporate and investor partners. Around 350 startups can work from the Plug and Play Tech Center in the company's Sunnyvale HQ.

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