Following the second annual Guidewire Insurtech Vanguards pitch event in Las Vegas last fall, we realized that regionalizing this innovative insurtech pitch competition could expand its reach, value, and relevance at a whole new scale. With a global insurtech incubator program and a customer base of carriers worldwide, we could amplify coverage of insurtech value propositions within individual regions. In turn, this would further enhance the way we help insurers learn about, and leverage, compelling new insurtech value propositions at an accelerated pace.

The first, most immediate opportunities for expanding the competition into epicenters of insurtech innovation came quickly to the fore. Worldwide, early-stage insurtech funding in the first quarter of 2024 rose 26.5% over Q4 2023, countering a broader decline in overall funding levels. But in Europe, funding tripled quarter-on-quarter, and Ireland is emerging as a hub for insurtech innovation. Meanwhile, Australia stands as a gateway to an Asian-Pacific region projected to see the insurtech market rise at a CAGR of 39.1% for the period spanning 2023 through 2030 and remains the fastest-growing market for insurtech investment worldwide.

For these reasons and more, Guidewire’s breakthrough pitch competition has now expanded to include recent events in Sydney, Australia and Dublin, Ireland. Before I share the specifics, let’s consider the bigger picture.

A Competition for an Industry at a Crossroads

In conversations with general insurers around the world, I’ve learned they share one thing in common. They’re all seeking solutions to mitigate weather-related catastrophes, regulatory complexities, rising claims costs, out-of-control litigation, and more. They also aim to leverage expansive new data and analytics ecosystems to enable capabilities that give them an edge.

Enter Guidewire’s Insurtech Vanguards. Now in its third year, the Insurtech Vanguards pitch competition is a tournament for members of the Guidewire Insurtech Vanguards incubator program. This initiative makes it easier for carriers to learn about insurtech value propositions that align with their strategic objectives as Guidewire scouts and vets potential new members for our industry-leading Marketplace ecosystem. While the Insurtech Vanguards incubator program was already global, it was time to extend our pitch competition with events beyond the United States.

In whatever region an event is held, the competition’s call to action is simple. Members of the Insurtech Vanguards program operating within that region are invited to submit a video that captures the value of their solution to insurers—the business challenges it solves and its bottom-line benefits—in 90 seconds or less. We post the video entries on a dedicated pitch competition website and invite Guidewire customers, partners, and employees to vote for the best value proposition.

The five entrants to generate the most votes then advance to our pitch event, where a live audience of Guidewire customers, employees, and industry analysts vote for a Grand Prize winner. The stakes: a chance to be showcased in the Demo Theater at Connections 2024. For startups, Connections offers an unprecedented opportunity to reach more than 3,000 top carrier executives, investors, and the industry press.

Expanding a World of Insurtech Opportunities

During each of its first two years, our U.S.-based competition attracted 10,000 pitch website visitors and more than 4,000 votes, reflecting rising carrier interest in cutting-edge insurtech value propositions. Because modern cloud-based platforms like Guidewire enable insurers to tap the latest insurtech innovations, carriers worldwide can solve business challenges and achieve a meaningful and differentiating competitive advantage.

Together with PwC in its continuing role as the competition’s sponsor, we launched 2024 Insurtech Vanguards pitch events in Sydney for startups operating in Australia, and Dublin for those doing business in Europe.

Sydney: Seizing on Industry Trends

Let’s start with our Sydney event, held May 23. The themes to emerge in our first regional expansion centered on seizing upon leading-edge capabilities in AI and digitalization to reduce costs, meet compliance mandates, and drive new distribution models.

Industry leaders convene for the 2024 Guidewire Insurtech Vanguards pitch event in Sydney on May 23

With votes counted and tallied, the following contestants advanced to the final round:

Codafication

Ecosystem innovation comes to managing carrier supplier networks: Codafication unlocks better expense ratios through faster, more brilliant claims fulfillment across the entire claims ecosystem.

Haast

Automated marketing compliance powered by AI. With Haast, teams save time and improve productivity by 80% by automating the review of marketing assets before and after they go live.

Humanable

An AI-enabled customer engagement platform that brings a human touch to digital customer acquisition, engagement, and retention—reducing churn by 20% and call center traffic by 30%.

Thesl

Short for “The Silver Lining,” Thesl offers a procurement and settlement solution that streamlines the content replacement claims process for all parties involved in the insurance value chain.

Quant Property Solutions

Analytics for mitigation in lenders and mortgage insurance made easy. Quant PS provides property valuation across econometrics to mitigate loss in lending and investment lifecycles.

The scene in Sydney, Australia–the first international expansion of our insurtech pitch competition

A Victory Lap for the Vanguards

Seeing this initiative bring visibility of consequential insurtech value propositions to a larger world stage was gratifying. Industry luminaries from throughout APAC/Oceana gathered to hear each competitor’s pitch. As in our U.S. events, it was challenging for attendees to cast a vote for the best value proposition. Once cast, the tallies factored into the official judges’ final verdict for the team to be named Grand Prize winner—an honor that ultimately went to:

Codafication

Codafication wins Grand Prize at the 2024 Guidewire Insurtech Vanguards pitch event in Sydney

Dublin: Delivering New Twists

Some 21 days and 10,693 miles later, our next international pitch event took place on June 13 in Dublin, Ireland.

The 2024 Guidewire Insurtech Vanguards pitch event gets underway in Dublin

Writing these words just hours after the event concluded, I find myself reflecting on how some of the most prominent themes seen in Sydney were likewise reflected here, but with some twists. While competitors in both regions leverage data and AI to expand distribution and deliver new efficiencies, our Dublin finalists added closing the protection gap and dispute resolution to the mix.

DeepOpinion takes the stage during the live pitch event in Dublin, Ireland 

Guidewire Insurtech Vanguards Pitch Event Dublin 2024 finalists included:

CodeEast

AI- and data-driven capacity management for Commercial and Specialty markets. By leveraging transaction data and the power of AI, CodeEast enables dynamic capacity optimization at scale.

DeepOpinion

DeepOpinion’s enterprise-ready generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) process unstructured and semi-structured data to achieve 90%+ straight-through processing.

IntelligentAI

Today, 80% of properties are underinsured by 50%. IntelligentAI automates rebuild cost valuations for properties and portfolios to mitigate premium leakage and combat underinsurance.

TalkTerms

Fast, fair dispute resolution is vital to cutting claims costs. TalkTerms’ negotiation and settlement platform helps claimants and carriers negotiate optimal outcomes quickly and efficiently.

Xtract

Advanced e-FNOL data acquisition and incident reconstruction for connected cars. Xtract captures and operationalizes incident details for faster claims processing and satisfied customers.

Expanding competition to global scale: Laura kicks off our live pitch event in Dublin, Ireland

They Don’t Call Them ‘Vanguards’ for Nothing

As with Sydney, the finalists at our Dublin pitch event understand that P&C insurers are under pressure to compete on more than just price. According to Swiss Re, 92% of industry executives believe data-driven insights can help them achieve significant improvements in customer experience, underwriting, and claims management. Given the value propositions offered by this set of Vanguard competitors, the anticipation during final voting was palpable. In the end, the Grand Prize went to:

Xtract

The team from Xtract takes Grand Prize at our 2024 Guidewire Insurtech Vanguards Dublin pitch event

Up Next: Our Pitch Event in the USA

With that, the APAC and European extensions of the Guidewire Insurtech Vanguards 2024 pitch competitions have come to their stirring conclusions. But the excitement’s not over yet. For insurtechs operating in the U.S., our third annual USA pitch competition is coming soon. As for prospective Vanguards in APAC or Europe, we hope to see you at our live pitch event in 2025.

If you think you’ve got what it takes to become a Guidewire Insurtech Vanguard, learn more and apply here.

Thanks to Teams Guidewire and PwC

On a final note, there’s no way to adequately capture the contributions made by everyone who made these events possible. Special thanks to everyone on the Guidewire and PwC teams, as well as Simone Dossetor from Insurtech Australia, Gary Leyden from InsTech.ie, and Amir Mahmoudi from QBE. You are Vanguards one and all.