NTUC Income reveals startups in inaugural insurtech accelerator programme

• Nine startups will participate in the equity-free accelerator programme
• Insurtech accelerator is held in partnership with Infocomm Investments

NTUC Income on Nov 14 unveiled nine startups which will participate in its equity-free accelerator programme, ‘Income Future Starter, powered by TAG.PASS’.

The insurtech accelerator is said to be the the first by an insurer in partnership with Infocomm Investments Private Limited (IIPL).

The nine teams which are involved in preventive healthcare, enhanced customer experience and digital advisory services are:

Preventive healthcare

1. Health2Sync (Taiwan) – Offers a healthcare management platform that revolutionises diabetic care through automated care and analytics;
2. Innoplaylab (Korea) – Provides a robotics solution which serves as a personal household assistant addressing the needs of home security, home automation and interactive communication;
3. NephTech (Singapore) – Offers a device and analytics platform that provides kidney dialysis centres and patients with an evidence-based approach to blood vessel surveillance and management;

Enhanced customer experience

4. Anywhere 2 Go (Thailand) - Facilitates communication and motor insurance claims processing between drivers and their insurance companies via their proprietary mobile application, Claim Di;
5. Konolabs (Korea) - Provides smarter and more efficient scheduling through an email and chat-bot interface that is enabled by artificial intelligence;
6. Pear Comms (Singapore) - Offers a one-stop sales engagement CRM application that boosts the efficiency and productivity of sales professionals;
7. ThinkCloud (Taiwan) - Safeguards digital transactions with the “Selfie Video Signature”, a revolutionary solution for the authentication of eSignature;

Digital advisory services

8. PolicyPal (Singapore) - Automates insurance coverage gap analysis by enabling consumers to digitise their organisation and management of their insurance policies simply, transparently and objectively; and
9. Zumata (Singapore) - Builds customer-centric solutions that leverage artificial intelligence.

During the 11-week accelerator programme, the nine shortlisted startups will have access to mentors from NTUC Income, IIPL, Philips and KPMG, amongst others. They will be housed at BASH (Build Amazing Start-ups Here), that is said to be Singapore’s largest start-up space.

NTUC Income chief executive Ken Ng said, “Given that insurtech is at its infancy in Singapore, we understand that startups working in this new frontier are unfamiliar with the insurance business. With ‘Income Future Starter, powered by TAG.PASS’, our intent is to match industry and domain knowledge to startups’ creativity and entrepreneurship so that together, we complement one another in co-developing practical and marketable solutions for real business and consumer needs.”

Each of the nine teams will receive S$28,000 (US$19,770) as an equity-free entrepreneur grant in addition to mentorship from specialists who will offer professional expertise and industry insights as part of the accelerator’s structured curriculum.

Participants can look forward to coaching to help enhance their tech and business know-how, as well as, support from the NTUC Income team, including access to senior management, and the opportunity to plug into NTUC Income’s ecosystem.

Networking opportunities to meet like-minded entrepreneurs to build rapport and exchange ideas and experiences will also be available.

Infocomm Investments head Dr Alex Lin said, “The startups selected for this inaugural programme run have products and solutions that display an alignment with Income’s business needs and gaps. As our ecosystem evolves into Generation 5, this programme fits into the envisioned end-to-end innovation journey.

“Using NephTech as a case study, they first entered the ecosystem with just a technology and early business idea. They applied and got into TAG.PASS, our in-house pre-acceleration, which got them started on developing a prototype and validating their business model. Upon graduation with a minimum viable product, they’re ready for the next stage of growth and Income Future Starter with its customer base and domain expertise, catapults them to their next phase.”

‘Income Future Starter, powered by TAG.PASS’, which was open for registration in August this year, attracted a total of 190 applications from 20 countries.

The accelerator programme will kick-start on Jan 9, 2017, culminating in a Demo Day in March 24, 2017.
 
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