A large growth in terms of quantity but also quality. This is very positive, although creates many difficulties, as sooner or later we must choose. This in a nutshell is what Isabella Fumagalli, CEO of BNP Paribas Cardif, said Tuesday, November 29 while introduced the winners of the Open-F@b Call4ideas 2016, the third edition of the contest sponsored by the insurance carrier with InsuranceUp and in partnership with Polihub, the incubator run by Fondazione Politecnico di Milano. Here they are: Amyko, SPIXII and D-Hearth. Three startups fitting into the rapidly developing market of chatbot and wereables.
How has the difficulty of choosing among 56 collected projects, including 6 from abroad, been overcome? Each of them proposed an innovative interpretation of the use of social networks and digital services linked to insurance products in the field of family protection, housing, health and mobility. BNP Paribas Cardif has chosen the proposals which better integrate with the company’s activities and that may actually support its growth.
This year the three winning proposals have been chosen by a jury made up of executives of BNP Paribas Group and academic experts in digital technologies, as well as three external observers: Massimo Sideri, innovation editor of Corriere della Sera; Luca Viscardi, blogger, radio host and expert on technology, aka MisterGadget; Tommaso Di Vico, student-journalist for the Bocconi magazine.
The three winning projects:
First Place: Amyko, technology, mobile and web app, associated with a wearable device (a bangle) able to share and store all medical and health information of the person who wears it, and then transmit it in real time to those who are authorized to receive it.
Second Place: SPIXII, chatbot technology that offers simplicity, convenience, customization and functionality in a smart software addressed to insurance carriers. SPIXII is an automated insurance agent able to talk to customers via chat, providing the insurance companies, with raw data, analysis and expertise.
Third Place: D-Heart, is a portable electrocardiograph, the size of a yo-yo that connects via Bluetooth to any type of smartphone, enabling anyone to obtain an electrocardiogram and to share it via email with their physician or for a fee, with a remote center of tele-cardiology, working 24/7.
The 3 winners will rely on managerial and R&D support by BNP Paribas Cardif to increase their business achievements, by creating a POC (proof of concept), or by being supported to sell the product/service in Italy or abroad.
The contest does not provide for a cash prize, but rather the opportunity to work and collaborate with Cardif management team to develop the project, the let the startup grow and to integrate it in the services and products offered by Cardif. Currently the company has been working with several startups detected in previous editions of the Open-F@b Call4Ideas.
The CEO, Mrs. Fumagalli has pointed out that in any case for all the other finalists, the “game” with BNP Paribas Cardif is not over: the company is interested in the follow-up through the activities that the company is pursuing with the R&D department.
Among the other even Open-F@b Call4Ideas realized in partnership with InsuranceUp, that is an open innovation project, released for the first time in 2014, aiming at identifying the best technological and digital startups to cooperate with them. The 2016 edition, which has just ended was aimed at identifying the best ideas that can improve the Customer Experience of policyholders and innovate the relationship between customer and carrier.
Customer Experience is an application environment which many insurtech startups are focusing on, since as shown by many studies, it is the key to modernize business models, offer new services, retain customers and win new ones, especially Millennials, very attentive to the digital purchase experience and access to services.
Here are the names of all the startups finalists that participated yesterday to the event and in different ways and with different technologies offered their vision about how insurance customer experience can be improved: Amyko, Beeta, D-Heart, Fast-surance, Mobile Messaging, Coppelis, Pedius, NeroProfile, Safe-woman, Spixii.
Not only pitch and Grand Final awards
Guests brought their experience and enriched the conversation on a driver topic for each technological transformation addressed to the consumers. As pointed out by Oliwia Berdak, the age of information is over, now it’s time for consumers era.
“Meet the new trends means above all simplifying the experience of our customers and be closer to them: thus we’ve asked the startups to present small or big ideas to improve the Customer Experience. Once again we have been impressed by the creativity of the projects we received, many related to health and safety, all of which are interesting and provide very clear answers. A positive customer experience, similar to that of other industries in this regard more advanced, results from an improved dialogue with customers, made more fluid and bidirectional, and high value-added services which better rely on the new technologies.” said Isabella Fumagalli, CEO at BNP Paribas Cardif in Italy.
About the winning projects
1st position: Amyko – Safety. Simplicity. Interactivity.
Team: Marcello Bonora, Riccardo Zanini
Amyko was founded in October 2013 on a bus during the “startup Europe competition” where Bonora and Zanini meet for the first time. From the first day the two founder were inspired by the positive social impact that Amyko could give to users by providing an innovative, practical and user friendly service, able to significantly improve the safety of persons.
Project
Amyko is a platform with cloud service, via an NFC bracelet, that allows those authorized to view medical information of the person who wears it.
Insurance Customer Experience
Amyko in the insurance sector is an innovative solution that gives immediate value to the user, which can manage and share all medical records – in case of emergency and need – immediately and anywhere in the world, and to the Company, which can dematerialize the documentation enhancing its services and optimizing the impact of the insurance risk, thanks to the direct and continuous contact with the user, through an innovative platform, supporting the whole e-health range.
2nd position: Spixii – Communication. Simplicity. Transparency.
Team: Alberto Chierici, Renaud Million
The inspiration for the first members, Alberto Chierici and Renaud Million, was born out of frustration experienced in the process of buying an insurance policy and from friendship and mutual support. The third partner, Alberto Pasqualotto, gives rise to a path for a future where financial protection is simpler, more personal and accessible to everyone. Reinvent the way consumers buy insurance products and how insurers can engage with their customers in new ways.
Project
Spixii is a new chatbot offering simplicity, convenience, personalization and smart software capabilities for insurance carriers through an automated system that supports customers in their purchase, claim for compensation and services.
Insurance Customer Experience
consumers support by Spixii is gained thanks to its simplicity, transparency and personalized experience while helping the Company in shaping and automating new customer experiences.
3rd position: D-Heart – Safety. Simplicity. Usefulness.
Team: Nicolò Briante, Niccolò Maurizi, met for the very first time at Collegio Borromeo in Pavia, one of many Italian talent factory. Maurizi was sixteen when he suffered a heart attack, an experience that led him to become a researcher cardiology and thinking about a solution such as D-Heart for the those with heart diseases. Thanks to the expertise and entrepreneurial talent of Mr.Briante, the project is now becoming something true.
Project
D-Heart is a portable electrocardiograph, the size of a yo-yo that connects via Bluetooth to any type of smartphone, enabling anyone to obtain an electrocardiogram and to share it via email with their physician or for a fee, with a remote center of tele-cardiology, working 24/7.
Insurance Customer Experience
The device is offered as a “win/win” solution both for the customer and the insurance carrier. Specifically, customers can save money on insurance premium and receive a monthly ECG monitoring in the comfort of their own home.
