QBE Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of insurance provider QBE, yesterday invested an undisclosed amount in US-based insurance technology developer RiskGenius as part of a partnership agreement.
The size of the deal was undisclosed but it marks the first time QBE Ventures has backed a startup, after being set up in May 2017 with $50m in capital to invest in early-stage companies.
RiskGenius operates a software platform that uses machine learning to interpret, organise and standardise policy language in an effort to help insurance professionals such as underwriters, brokers and regulators better understand and tailor complex coverages.
QBE will implement the company’s software as a result of the partnership, beginning with its North American division. The corporate expects to upload some 125,000 policy documents to the platform in 2018.
Bob James, group head of transformation for QBE, said: “I am delighted that RiskGenius is the first partnership for QBE Ventures.
“QBE North America completed a proof-of-concept of the RiskGenius Platform earlier this year, and saw great results leveraging the company’s proprietary, machine learning product to compare policies as part of our product development process.
“From that proof-of-concept, we have now signed a multi-year commercial use agreement, and plan on implementing the RiskGenius Platform across all our business units in North America during the first half of 2018.”