1337 Ventures launches Malaysia Insurtech Opportunity Report 2021

• Extensive view of insurtech landscape, including incumbents, partners & startups
• Future of insurtech in terms of innovation, funding, case studies, and next steps

1337 Ventures produced the Malaysia Insurtech Opportunity Report 2021, which was sponsored by FWD Insurance and backed by the Fintech Association of Malaysia (FAOM). The report examines the ever-changing dynamics of Malaysia's insurance sector, highlighting the current status of insurance and Insurtech in Malaysia, technology trends and consumer behaviour that the industry may leverage, and what the future of Insurtech in Malaysia holds for Startups, Corporates & Investors and the industry at large.

The Malaysia Insurtech Opportunity Report allows key players in insurtech to discover how the ecosystem can play a more active role in supporting the growth of insurtech and takafultech by diving into best practices from both insurance incumbents and insurtech startups and exploring trends and opportunities in both insurance and Takaful. “There is a gap in the Malaysian insurtech sector in areas like underwriting, predictive analytics, carriers and P2P which is a great opportunity for startups to venture into the ecosystem,” said Bikesh Lakhmichand (pic, left), CEO of 1337 Ventures.

Malaysia’s B40 Gap in Insurance

Unfortunately, only 30.3% of B40 (bottom 40%) households are covered by life insurance or Takaful policies, despite the government's target of reaching a national life insurance penetration of 75% by 2020. Even with growing ecosystem partnerships and flourishing fintech and insurtech opportunities, the B40 group remains the largest uninsured segment in the country.

Majority of insurtechs in Sales and Distribution

Very few insurtechs are addressing other parts of the value chain due to the perceived high entry barrier in this regulated space, as well insufficient capital investment in value chain innovations. This results in the lack of customised products and services that are catered to different segments of the Malaysian population.

“As the saying goes, innovation is done by imagining the future and filling in the gaps. We are certain that existing and aspiring insurtech players are able to benefit from the industry insights presented in this InsurTech Opportunity Report 2021 developed by 1337 Ventures and sponsored by FWD," said Fintech Association of Malaysia in the foreword of the report.

Moving forward, the report suggested six focus areas that can drive the future of Malaysia’s insurtech scene — the improvement of digital banking services for the underserved, a greater focus on financial inclusivity for the B40 community, more cloud-based solutions to simplify the consumer purchasing journey, increased collaboration between insurtechs and incumbents, the development of digital insurance licenses, and finally, Malaysia being the leader of the global Takaful space.

1337 also encourags aspiring startup founders to check out Muru-ku.com, a one-stop platform of Malaysia Startup Ecosystem, an initiative by 1337 Ventures. The venture accelerator has mapped up to 660+ Malaysian Startups and a platform filled with resources such as The VC List, Grant List, Startup Events & Problem Statements to solve. Visit https://muru-ku.com to learn more and submit your startup if it’s not already listed.