Insurtech Australia | Rita Yates

Rita grew up in Melbourne, and as a child couldn’t decide whether she wanted to be an FBI agent, fiction author or an Olympic athlete. After managing corporate partnerships for innovation hub Stone & Chalk, and having worked in the insurance industry, her and a group of other co-founders decided to build a thriving Insurtech community here in Australia. We were lucky enough to interview Rita and talk to her about her journey and the work she does for Insurtech Australia.

Rita Yates, CEO & Co-Founder, Insurtech Australia

What gave you the idea for Insurtech Australia? How did Insurtech Australia start?

I am one of several co-founders of Insurtech Australia, who were all linked to the insurance space but coming at it from different angles (incumbents, insurtechs and innovation providers). At the time, I was managing corporate partnerships for Stone & Chalk, an innovation hub who at the time was predominantly focused on fintech. We came together in 2016 driven by Brenton Charnley, at a time when fintech was really gaining momentum in Australia but solutions specific to the insurance sector were few and far between. We saw that insurtech was gaining momentum in regions like the US and UK. There was a real opportunity to be the instigators to leverage that momentum here in Australia and work towards building a thriving insurtech community inclusive of not just insurtech startups and scaleups but insurers, brokers and adjacent organisations that touch the insurance value chain that could benefit from world class insurtech solutions.

Any key stats, data, reports, research you can provide to give flavor to the opportunity/problem?

Global investment into insurtech has been growing steadily over the last 5 years and despite covid-19, 2020 saw a record amount of deals and dollars globally going into insurtech. It is a reflection of the potential that insurtech solutions have to really change the industry.

Global investment in the insurtech sector reached an annual high of US$7.1 billion (approx. AU$9.2 billion) for 2020 despite the challenges faced by the re/insurance industry throughout the year.

What does Insurtech Australia do? Who is the solution for? What problem does it solve?

The mission of insurtech Australia is to build a world-leading insurtech ecosystem right here in Australia. We are a not-for-profit industry body bringing together the diverse Australian insurtech community including startups and scaleups, insurers and brokers, innovation hubs, investors and regulators in the knowledge that local connectedness is a key factor in the success of startup ecosystems. The three key pillars we focus on in all initiatives are facilitation, education and advocacy.

What is unique about Insurtech Australia?

We are the only insurtech focused industry body in Australia. In 2018, together with Instech London, Insurtech Asia and Insurtech NZ, we also founded the Global Insurtech Alliance (GITA) made up of global organisations from different regions across the globe with the same mission as Insurtech Australia creating even greater pathways for scale into global regions.

What have you learnt about raising capital?

In Australia, investment into insurtech is still fairly hard to come by with many VC’s lacking understanding of insurance and thus confidence in investing in this space. Some Australian insurtechs find it easier to secure funding from international players unfortunately but together with partners like Envest and Insurtech Gateway Australia, we are making moves to hopefully see a positive change.

What do you think Corporates can learn from early stage businesses?

Building a more entrepreneurial mindset into their strategic planning – test, learn then pivot can still get you to the end goal and startups are very good at doing this and doing it quickly. Always have the customer front of mind in everything you do and keep very close to these customers listening closely to the feedback they provide. Recruit staff that will support and grow your innovation culture.

Where do Corporates need to improve in working with/supporting early stage businesses?

When we think about partnerships between insurtechs and insurers or incumbents, there are a few key fundamentals that need to be in place and it is often the case that one or more of these areas are not well set up. To begin with it is important that corporates have insurtech as part of an overall innovation strategy and are clear on their pain points and which of these problems they are willing to explore partnering with insurtechs to. It is important to build a fast-track framework extending across relevant areas of the business and build capabilities to rapidly test and learn and then move from proof of concept to production. Having the right people in place to execute, and clear timeframes and outcome expectations are also really important. Corporates will always move slower than startups and scaleups but building capabilities to meet somewhere in the middle goes a long way to achieving a successful partnership. We are also lucky enough to have some wonderful insurance individuals from the corporate world that give their time to mentor insurtechs at various stages. This works both ways in that it is beneficial for the insurtech but can also be very beneficial for the mentor to understand a little more about what is developing outside their corporate environment.

Where do you see Insurtech Australia in ten years time?

Whilst our mission will remain the same, I envisage that as the insurtech ecosystem continues to change and mature in Australia. Our proposition and focus will likewise change and mature and become a reflection of what is needed to continue to help our members and partners thrive. We are shifting towards building a world leading ecosystem for not only insurtech but also insurance innovation.

Biggest challenge you have faced so far?

The biggest challenge we have faced so far would be similar to many other businesses – Covid-19. It turned our world somewhat upside down in that a number of our initiatives would usually run face to face which we were of course no longer able to do. As was the case in many other organisations, it was surprising how quickly we were able to adapt and move activities into virtual formats. It has been a real lesson in how adaptable organisations can be when required! This includes our insurtech members who for the most part have been quite resilient during the pandemic and in some cases even thrived due to the nature of their solutions.

Example of a good result with Insurtech Australia?

At Insurtech Australia we are proud to have grown from very humble beginnings supporting a handful of companies in 2017 to now have over 70 insurtech startups and scaleups that we support as members and 28 corporate partners right across the insurance value chain and we look forward to continued growth.

What are the key disruptive forces you see facing the insurance industry?’

The insurtech ‘revolution’ was driven by two key factors – rapidly advancing technology and rapidly changing customer expectations driven by their experience in other industries. The insurance industry will need to keep up with both of these in the short and long term and to date that has been a major challenge. Ultimately, insurers are not tech companies, and they will need to work out how to deal with and potentially partner with and leverage both big tech and smaller tech firms looking to take a slice of the insurance pie.

What is your focus now? And for the next couple of years?

Continuing to build and support the insurtech ecosystem in Australia – supporting Australian insurtechs to grow and scale within Australia as well as internationally and supporting international insurtechs to scale into our market to build jobs and help the ecosystem grow. To also support our many partners in their innovation journey.

What are the one or two lessons/principles/ you carry with you into everything you do?

Always keep learning and be happy to go outside your comfort zone.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?

In a startup environment 10 years is a lifetime so I couldn’t even speculate! However, I know that I love building communities and helping businesses succeed.

How do you balance your personal time and your ‘work’ time?

 Generally my family always comes first and everything else fits around that – sometimes neatly and sometimes less neatly!!

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