Ignatica, DouBao & EasiTech Ink Deal to Digitise APAC Insurance Sector

Distributed by Business Wire
4th December 2020

New platform will speed innovation and new product development in APAC region

HONG KONG–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#digitaltransformation–Ignatica, DauBao and EasiTech said Friday they’re joining forces to create a new platform that will tap the full potential of the Asia-Pacific region’s burgeoning insurance sector.

The three said they’ll integrate the DouBao Digital Cloud, EasiTech Mobile Application and the Ignatica platform to craft a new platform and offer insurers, brokers and agents operating in APAC a full-service digital solution for client acquisitions and onboarding, new insurance product launches and ongoing product administration and management.

The agreement marries EasiTech’s powerful front-end, customer-facing platform with Ignatica’s cutting-edge back-office technology to speed innovation and the development and launch of new insurance products across the region. The new integrated platform will integrate with the smart and secure cloud service developed by EasiTech’s parent, China’s DouBao Networks Group.

“The global insurance sector is large and powerful, but its operating systems and technology haven’t changed significantly in the last century. We’re at an inflection point for digitization and modernization that will sharply reduce the cost and risks of bringing new products to market,” said Ignatica co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Adhish Pendharkar. “This new, integrated and highly secure platform utilizing EasiTech’s Mobile Application and DouBao’s Digital Cloud is a game-changer. Once up and running, you will see a rapid increase in insurance offerings – which is great for insurers and extremely important to improve regional financial-sector inclusion.”

The World Bank estimates nearly one in four of the four billion-plus people in Asia has no access to the global financial system. While there are numerous reasons for that, costs and inadequate technology to reach them have played major roles in preventing them from opening bank accounts and purchasing insurance and investment products. New technology, such as the joint platform Ignatica and EasiTech will develop over the next 24 months, is aimed at lowering most of those barriers.

“Ignatica, with its superior management team and technology, is a perfect partner to extend best-in-class product launch offerings and policy administration for our 18 million current customers in Mainland China and to drive our regional platform and to scale up the insurance business in APAC,” said EasiTech CEO, Wendy Zhang. “We’re targeting an additional 30 million customers across APAC with over $5 billion in new gross written premiums (GWP) sales per year to be transacted through this new, joint platform over the next four years.”

Under terms of the deal, EasiTech, which already manages US$3.67 billion in GWP on its existing platform from 1,241 intermediaries and insurers in Mainland China, will administer their current business through the new platform powered by Ignatica, leveraging a “Center of Excellence” that the two companies are establishing. They’ll also jointly market their technologies to insurers, brokers and agents across APAC to onboard all the insurance-related distribution, product management and policy administration activities onto the new platform.

Ignatica is a Hong Kong and Swiss company backed by US-based SOSV Investment Fund. Ignatica was founded in 2018 by insurance industry veterans Pendharkar and Manuel San Miguel – former Manulife CTO for APAC – along with longtime C-suite executive and entrepreneur Travis Callahan. Its core platform technology enables insurers to profitably provide every person on the planet the type of insurance they need, at the price they can afford, with the service and speed that today’s customers expect. Ignatica has partnered with some of the world’s largest multinational and regional insurers and brokers, and together with this new partnership, will manage over 30 million insurance customers (US$ 10 billion of new annual GWP) on the Ignatica Platform.

EasiTech is the international arm of DouBao Networks Group, which operates the www.17doubao.com insurance platform. Established in 2015, DouBao’s vision is “making insurance services smarter through technology.” Offering modular and integrated Software as a Service solutions up and down the value chain, it has grown into one of China’s leading providers of intelligent insurance technology. DouBao’s platform handles marketing, customer acquisition, customer service, claims handling, intermediary management and employee benefits solutions. EasiTech was founded in 2019 and has its current client base in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.