January 16, 2018
InsurePal, a Slovenian startup, has raised US$18m in seed money for setting up an insurance platform based on blockchain technology, reports the STA on January 16, 2018. It raised US$5.4m in 80 seconds in an initial coin offering (ICO), an initial public offering of sorts but for cryptocurrency.
The platform, founded by former insurance executives Matjaž Peterman and Tomaž Volk, will work on the theory of social influence, under which one's actions are said to be influenced by the actions of another.
This means that InsurePal will get "an objective assessment of an insured person through a financial guarantee from their sponsor", said Volk.
Blockchain technology will facilitate the business process and ensure complete transparency, he added.
This way the platform will attract the least risky clients, "whom we can offer many perks, better-tailored services and above all a better value insurance".
Noting that moving into cryptoeconomy is particularly hard for insurance companies because of all required regulatory approvals, Peterman said that there is "virtually no competition".
"It only appears in high-tech niche products, which do not provide a comprehensive insurance to clients. Above all they do not have suitable licences or the capital that would allow them to grow fast enough," he said.
The pair have already filed for patenting the business model in the US and globally. They will launch the pilot project in the UK, while the platform itself will remain in Slovenia in most part.
The funds, US$12.6m of which have been raised in presale, will be invested primarily into technology. "For InsurePal, this is only the first real step. We're looking forward because we want to become fully operational as soon as possible," Peterman said.
According to him, the team wants to get the platform on the markets in the UK and Europe within six months. The plan is to then gradually expand to the US.