Episodes

Sunday Aug 15, 2021
Sunday Aug 15, 2021
There has been no shortage of founders looking to transform insurance over the last five years, but turning innovative insurtech ideas into successful businesses is an incredibly tough challenge.
Jerad Leigh is the co-founder of Supercede, one of many companies we’ve worked with at InsTech London that have made the leap from 'early stage' to ‘established'.
He joins Matthew on Podcast 151 to share his experience of that journey and some great advice on how to build a business.
Talking points include:
- How to test your idea before you quit your job
- Whether to build or buy your technology
- Where to look for seed funding
- Juggling day-to-day operations with fundraising
- Selling versus research? Tactics for getting your first clients
- The power of communities
If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use, or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn.
Sign up to the InsTech London newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning.
Continuing Professional Development - Learning Objectives
InsTech London is accredited by The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening to any InsTech London podcast or reading the accompanying transcript, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards the CII member CPD scheme.
The Learning Objectives for this podcast are:
- Discern some of the important elements of founding a company
- Understand how to get funding in an early-stage company
- Realise some of the ways to help a new company grow
If your organisation is a member of InsTech London and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 151 page of the InsTech London website or email cpd@instech.london to let us know you have listened to this podcast.
To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

Sunday Aug 01, 2021
Partners' Chat - Summer Special: Robin Merttens and Matthew Grant (149)
Sunday Aug 01, 2021
Sunday Aug 01, 2021
Recorded after the InsTech London Summer Party, our first public event since Covid-19 restrictions were lifted, Matthew and Robin catch up for their quarterly partners’ chat.
The conversation covers their pick of the latest insurance and insurtech news stories, reaction to our report on embedded insurance, and even Robin’s restaurant recommendations.
Talking points include:
- Face-to-face events and our return to The Steel Yard
- Insurtech investment and lessons learnt from the last five years
- Embedded insurance opportunities
- The rise of the tech-enabled MGA
- Climate change, ESG and the demand for data
The InsTech London report, Insurance: to Embed, or not to Embed, is available to download for free from the InsTech London website.
If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use, or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn.
Sign up to the InsTech London newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning.
Continuing Professional Development - Learning Objectives
InsTech London is accredited by The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening to any InsTech London podcast or reading the accompanying transcript, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards the CII member CPD scheme.
To claim 0.5 hours for this podcast, go to the Episode 149 page of the InsTech London website, or email cpd@instech.london.

Sunday Jul 25, 2021
Sunday Jul 25, 2021
Founded in 2010, CoreLogic has established itself as a leading provider of location and property intelligence, with more than 500 insurers and reinsurers now using its products.
Mick Noland, General Manager for Insurance, joins Matthew to discuss the company’s growth over the last decade and the unique data sets that CoreLogic is creating for its insurance clients.
The conversation also covers recent investment in CoreLogic, how the company integrates with third-party providers, and the development of data and insights for catastrophe modelling and climate change risks.
Talking points include:
- How insurers are using real estate data
- Building a data-led approach to underwriting
- Establishing unique identifiers for individual properties
- The benefits of using platforms and APIs
- The growth and importance of climate change risk information
More information on CoreLogic's Digital Hub Alliance is available here on the company's website.
CoreLogic was named as one of the companies to watch in our Location Intelligence 2021 report, which is available to download from our website.
If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use, or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn.
Sign up to the InsTech London newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning.
Continuing Professional Development - Learning Objectives
InsTech London is accredited by The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening to any InsTech London podcast or reading the accompanying transcript, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards the CII member CPD scheme.
The Learning Objectives for this podcast are:
- Understand the value of property data in the insurance industry
- Realise how a data provider can differentiate the different buildings in a dataset
- Recognise how property data can intersect with climate change
To continue learning about property data in insurance, read our insight US Property Data: Is this as good as it gets?
If your organisation is a member of InsTech London and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 148 page of the InsTech London website or email cpd@instech.london to let us know you have listened to this podcast.
To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

Sunday Jul 18, 2021
Sunday Jul 18, 2021
Talking points include:
- The basics of how insurers make money
- Why incumbent insurers struggle to innovate
- What senior executives think about insurtech
- MGAs and new distribution models
- Which emerging technologies could become the norm
If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use, or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn.
Sign up to the InsTech London newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning.
Continuing Professional Development - Learning Objectives
InsTech London is accredited by The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening to any InsTech London podcast or reading the accompanying transcript, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards the CII member CPD scheme.
The Learning Objectives for this podcast are:
- Realise what is holding some incumbents back from innovating
- Understand what the linear adaptation model is and how to break free of it
- Discern some technologies that are receiving investment in the insurance industry
If your organisation is a member of InsTech London and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 147 page of the InsTech London website or email cpd@instech.london to let us know you have listened to this podcast.
To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

Sunday Jul 11, 2021
Sunday Jul 11, 2021
Skyline Partners and AEGIS London have launched a new parametric product to provide US small and medium business owners with cover in the event of a shooting.
The Active Assailant policy uses police department data to define when an event has taken place, triggering a non-damage business interruption cover payment of up to $50,000. An initial launch is taking place in Dallas, Texas with the aim of scaling the policy out to other states across the US.
Skyline Partners Co-founder Gethin Jones and Calum Williams from AEGIS London join Matthew to discuss the product’s development and how parametric insurance can help fill the protection gap left by traditional policies.
Talking points include:
- How insurers can work with tech companies
- Using data to create parametric triggers
- Selling insurance products through a broker network
- Launching and scaling a business
- Skyline’s experience of working in the Lloyd’s Lab
Skyline Partners is featured in our ‘Parametric insurance: 2021 outlook and the companies to watch’ report, which is available to download from our website and free for InsTech London members.
More information on the Active Assailant insurance product is available on the AEGIS London website.
If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use, or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn.
Sign up to the InsTech London newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning.
Continuing Professional Development - Learning Objectives
InsTech London is accredited by The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening to any InsTech London podcast or reading the accompanying transcript, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards the CII member CPD scheme.
The Learning Objectives for this podcast are:
- Understand what parametric insurance is
- Recognise why an active assailant product was developed and how it is offered
- Realise some of the legal and regulatory hurdles that parametric insurance can encounter
If your organisation is a member of InsTech London and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 146 page of the InsTech London website or email cpd@instech.london to let us know you have listened to this podcast.
To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

Sunday Jul 04, 2021
Sunday Jul 04, 2021
Archipelago is aiming to improve the data shared between insurers and their corporate clients related to property risks.
Archipelago is going directly to the original data sources - upstream from insurers to the risk manager and building owners. This is then collated and shared on a platform with brokers and selected insurers.
Co-founder and CEO Hemant Shah, previously founder of catastrophe modelling company RMS, joins Matthew to discuss how Archipelago is improving risk reduction and better access to reliable insights between all parties.
Talking points include:
- Finding the right problem to solve
- Building trust and sourcing data directly from customers
- Replacing spreadsheets and emails with technology
- The benefits of the network effect and collaborating with partners across the full value chain
- Launching a company remotely
Archipelago was named as one of the companies to watch in our Location Intelligence 2021 report, which is available to download from our website.
If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use, or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn.
Sign up to the InsTech London newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning.
Continuing Professional Development - Learning Objectives
InsTech London is accredited by The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening to any InsTech London podcast or reading the accompanying transcript, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards the CII member CPD scheme.
The Learning Objectives for this podcast are:
- Understand how property data can be sourced and updated
- Realise how data can benefit the insurer and insured alike
- Recognise some of the ways underwriters can utilise property data
If your organisation is a member of InsTech London and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 145 page of the InsTech London website or email cpd@instech.london to let us know you have listened to this podcast.
To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

Sunday Jun 27, 2021
Robin Merttens & Simon Torrance: Insurance - to Embed, or not to Embed (144)
Sunday Jun 27, 2021
Sunday Jun 27, 2021
The attraction and vast potential for ‘embedding’ insurance products has made it one of the hottest topics of 2021.
Robin Merttens chats to Simon Torrance on Podcast 144 about the opportunities offered by embedded insurance and insights from the InsTech London report, Insurance: to Embed or not to Embed.
Talking points include:
- The definition of embedded insurance
- Embedded success stories from around the world
- Why customers like embedded solutions
- Third-party distributors and platform business models
- The challenges facing incumbents
If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use, or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn.
Sign up to the InsTech London newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning.
Insurance: to Embed or not to Embed will be available to download on the InsTech London website from 9am on Thursday 1 July. The report takes an in-depth look at what embedded means in practice, the emerging opportunities, and the companies who are making it work.
Join Robin at 12pm on 1 July as he discusses the findings from the report in a Live Chat with Franck Pivert, Chief Revenue Officer, Wakam; Jean-Charles Velge, Co-Founder, Qover; Louisa Murray, Chief Operating Officer (UK & Europe), Railsbank.
Continuing Professional Development - Learning Objectives
InsTech London is accredited by The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening to any InsTech London podcast or reading the accompanying transcript, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards the CII member CPD scheme.
The Learning Objectives for this podcast are:
- Understand what embedded insurance is and how it differs from some pre-existing solutions
- Realise some of the opportunities embedded insurance offers and its value in the future
- Recognise how incumbents could benefit from embedded insurance and what is holding them back
If your organisation is a member of InsTech London and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 144 page of the InsTech London website or email cpd@instech.london to let us know you have listened to this podcast.
To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

Sunday Jun 20, 2021
Sunday Jun 20, 2021
Tesselo is one of the companies looking to help its clients manage the impact of climate change, using satellite data and remote sensing to monitor tree and crop health and support forest owners and farmers in mitigating risks.
The company, based in Lisbon, is now exploring insurance applications for its data and analytics and was recently selected to join Cohort 6 of the Lloyd’s Lab.
Matthew talks to Chief Strategy Officer and co-founder Marine Utgé-Royo on Podcast 143 to discuss how Tesselo’s technology is tracking changes in forests and how it can help with compliance to environmental regulation.
Talking points include:
- Measuring forest health and carbon sequestration bonds
- Building High Definition vegetation models and risk maps from satellite data
- Closing the insurance protection gap
- What Tesselo's clients think about insurance
- Parametric solutions for fire and flood risk
- The advantages and opportunities provided by the Lloyd’s Lab
More information on the companies and technology helping insurers to identify and manage climate change risks is available in our Location Intelligence 2021 report, which is free to InsTech London members.
If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use, or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn.
Sign up to the InsTech London newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning.
Continuing Professional Development - Learning Objectives
InsTech London is accredited by The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening to any InsTech London podcast or reading the accompanying transcript, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards the CII member CPD scheme.
The Learning Objectives for this podcast are:
- Comprehend some of the different types of data associated with the environment and how they're sourced
- Realise the actionable insights that can come from environmental data
- Understand how data can help manage climate change and its value in CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and ESG
To continue learning about the intersection of insurance and climate change, read our insight Regulation – the next innovation super-charger for climate change risk assessment?
If your organisation is a member of InsTech London and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 143 page of the InsTech London website or email cpd@instech.london to let us know you have listened to this podcast.
To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

Sunday Jun 13, 2021
Building a successful technology enabled MGA (142)
Sunday Jun 13, 2021
Sunday Jun 13, 2021
The Managing General Agent (MGA) business model, by which companies can underwrite risks without retaining capital, has proved popular among insurtechs looking to use new technology to improve underwriting.
So how do you set up a successful MGA? Matthew was joined by leading figures from tech-enabled MGAs when he hosted a panel at the 2021 Virtual KBW European Financials & Insurtech Conference.
The panelists were Elizabeth Jenkin (Chief Commercial Officer at Nimbla), Graham Elliott (CEO of Azur), Alastair Speare-Cole (President of Insurance at QOMPLX) and Jonathan Spry (CEO of Envelop Risk).
Talking points include:
- Why to set up an MGA
- How to make better use of data
- Innovating vs investing in innovators
- Data sharing
- The future of MGAs
If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use, or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn.
Sign up to the InsTech London newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning.
Continuing Professional Development - Learning Objectives
InsTech London is accredited by The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening to any InsTech London podcast or reading the accompanying transcript, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards the CII member CPD scheme.
The Learning Objectives for this podcast are:
- Comprehend how data can be utilised by modern MGAs
- Realise some of the benefits of innovating for MGAs and why it is necessary for the future of the insurance industry
- Understand how to set up an MGA and what makes them unique
To continue learning about the benefits of MGAs, read our insight MGAs: the fast track to insurance innovation?
If your organisation is a member of InsTech London and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 142 page of the InsTech London website or email cpd@instech.london to let us know you have listened to this podcast.
To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

Sunday Jun 06, 2021
Sunday Jun 06, 2021
Robin steps back in as host this week to find out more about Sotera Heritage from co-founder Elizabeth Marston.
Sotera is using AI and machine learning to create irrevocable digital identities for ancient antiquities, helping insurers to accurately verify objects and provide tools for law enforcement agencies in the fight against the illicit sale of stolen artefacts.
Talking points include:
- Digital fingerprints for antiquities
- Creating patterns through image recognition
- Tracking high-value objects in real-time
- Building a solution for insurers
- Crowdsourcing data through partnerships
The conversation also covers a shared love of wine as they discuss Elizabeth’s role at the Marston Family Vineyard in Napa Valley and the impact of last year’s devastating California wildfires.
If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use, or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn.
Sign up to the InsTech London newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning.
Continuing Professional Development - Learning Objectives
InsTech London is accredited by The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening to any InsTech London podcast or reading the accompanying transcript, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards the CII member CPD scheme.
To claim 0.5 hours for this podcast, go to the Episode 141 page of the InsTech London website, or email cpd@instech.london.