QBE partners with AI startup
Australia’s QBE Insurance Group has partnered with London-based artificial intelligence startup Cytora.
Cytora is an artificial intelligence (AI) company building a new way for commercial insurers to target, select and price risk. With the Cytora risk engine, insurers can measurably grow premium and reduce loss ratios while delivering more accurate prices to customers, the company claims.
In 2018, the Cytora risk engine will be deployed across QBE property and casualty lines. The Cytora risk engine, driven by machine learning algorithms, combines an insurer’s internal data on a specific cover with external information from a broad spectrum of sources. This generates a risk score, which provides enhanced insight into expected claims activity on the whole portfolio and also at an individual risk level.
“This is an incredibly innovative use of the ubiquitous open source data available,” said Richard Pryce, CEO of QBE European operations. “Combining external information with our own internal intelligence gives a more complete view of a risk which in turn enables QBE to provide protection to our customers at a fairer price that reflects the true level of exposure. The partnership with Cytora enables us to accelerate the adoption of advanced analytics in our business and complements the expertise we have been developing in-house.”
“Cytora’s technology has broader application beyond risk scoring and will enable us to identify attractive areas that match our risk appetite and expertise but where we are currently underrepresented. This will assist us to focus our efforts on the customer relationships where we can add greatest value,” he added.
QBE Ventures was among a group of investors participating in a recent £4.4 million Cytora funding round.
Other investors included Starr Global Holding, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Cambridge Enterprise, Parkwalk Advisors, and an array of angel investors, according to a Dec. 6 press release.
The new funding comes as the company prepares to deploy its risk engine internationally across property and casualty lines with a core group of insurers.
Ted Stuckey, head of global innovation lab at QBE Ventures, said: “Cytora allows insurers to gain access to information and insights that have traditionally been out of reach and we are incredibly excited to partner with them as they accelerate their growth and expansion."
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