After the success of the previous editions and with innovation as one of its main axes, Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich) launches the fourth edition of the Zurich Innovation Championshipthe largest global competition of open innovation to startups in the insurance sector.
“The Zurich Innovation Championship encourages a new way of thinking and gives us access to ideas and solutions that we don’t yet have ourselves. For participants, it’s an opportunity to grow their business and launch technology-driven solutions that can help meet emerging and changing customer needs.”, said Ericson Chan, Chief Information & Digital Officer of the Zurich Group.
The Zurich Innovation Championship became an integral part of Zurich’s drive for innovation. Since the first edition in 2018, more than 4,500 proposals have been reviewed and Zurich is currently collaborating in different alliances with 30 of the participating companies.
“Previous editions have shown that the greatest value comes from startups with ideas to impact specific parts of the value chain, or enablers, rather than those challenges that seek to impact the entire industry. Our goal is to collaborate together and bring together the best of what we and startups have to offer. This is where innovation can make a real difference.”, said Paolo Mantero, Chief Strategy Officer of the Group.
The five challenges to solve at the Zurich Innovation Championship
Startups that wish to participate may register in one of the five categories: Customer Experience, Commercial Insurance, Distribution Alliances, Digital Enablers and Sustainability.
- Customer experience: How could Zurich offer customers solutions and experiences that are as sophisticated and personalized as best-in-class?
- Business Insurance: How could Zurich offer innovative and tailored insurance solutions and risk services as risks evolve and ensure the trust of its clients?
- Distribution alliances: How could Zurich elevate its partnerships and attract new distribution partners and ecosystems to meet changing customer needs?
- Digital enablers: How could Zurich use technology to achieve greater agility and efficiency and underpin successful customer and employee experience?
- Sustainability: How could Zurich help society transition to a more sustainable world from an environmental, social and economic perspective?
An annual program to promote innovation
This year, the Zurich Innovation Championship becomes a year-long competition running from January to December 2023. A total of 10z members of the Zurich global leadership team will choose two to three winning initiatives per category in the final days. of April.
In the subsequent acceleration phase, which spans four months from the end of May to the end of September, project funding of up to $100,000 will be provided to each of the winning startups, along with mentoring from the leaders of the Zurich and external experts.
This will allow the startups, in close collaboration with Zurich leaders and companies, to validate how their joint solution can meet changing customer needs and prepare an operational business plan for adoption across the Group.
By the end of December 2023, the tested initiatives will have started, giving life to a joint proposal.
As it has done in previous editions, the Zurich Innovation Championship works with the main players in the startup ecosystem, including F6S, plug and play and BLAND. This potential for cross-business collaboration is described in a recent Zurich white paper published in December 2022: “The Future of Insurtech Collaboration” (The Future of Insurtech Collaboration).
For more details and to register click here. Registration will be open until February 27 until 5:00 pm Mexico City time.
Editorial Team The editorial team of EMPRENDEDOR.com, which for more than 27 years has worked to promote entrepreneurship.