How insurtechs are actually boosting insurance brokers

Funding for insurtechs isn't slowing down, with $2.3 billion invested in 2017, a 36% increase from 2016, and, so far in 2018, insurtech funding transactions in Q2 have reached an all-time high, according to Willis Towers Watson. At the same time, the benefits that insurance companies stand to gain from insurtechs are growing. A recent Accenture report found that US insurers could collectively grow their profits by $20 billion with the implementation of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics – the focus of many insurtech solutions on the market right now. "When it first started with insurtechs, it was a lot of disruptors getting the funding, but now there's a ton of insurtech enablers that are coming out," said Linda Dodson, chief experience officer for AVYST, a technology solution provider aimed at independent insurance agents. "It's always hard for anybody to get into carriers, especially the new insurtechs coming on board, but you have carriers, like The Hartford, that have whole programs set up for insurtech start-ups."