The summit brought together technology pioneers, investors, and Insurtech startup finalists from ‘InsurHack MENA’.

The InsurTech MENA Summit 2022, organised by Qatar Insurance Company Group (QIC), marked a seminal moment in insurance change, drawing attention to the rising importance of insurance industry partnerships.

In this first-of-its-kind event hosted by the leading insurer in Qatar and the MENA region, in partnership with Deloitte, Google Cloud and QIC Digital Venture Partner (QIC DVP), hundreds of technology leaders, investors, and insurance innovators came together to envisage how to unlock better customer experiences in the mobility and health insurance verticals.

The event focused on new value propositions and solutions in big tech analytics, Al/ML, behavioural economics and conversational Al, as well as officiating the Insurtech MENA ecosystem.

During QIC Group’s first hybrid event, over 2500 participants viewed and interacted online and more than 250 attended the one-day summit at the St Regis Hotel with delegates, guests, and speakers flying into Qatar from the region and around the world.

The summit brought together insurance and technology pioneers, investors, and six Insurtech startup finalists from ‘InsurHack MENA’ – the first InsurTech Hackathon in the MENA region.

Also organised by QIC Group, together with Deloitte, Google Cloud, and QIC Digital Venture Partner (QIC DVP), the venture builder arm of QIC Group – who are delivering on the ground and who came to share innovation, trends, and insights aroundinsurance in the region. The attendees networked with leading entrepreneurs and insurance thought leaders.

At the end of the summit Salem al-Mannai Group CEO of QIC Group, said, “We leveraged our strong regional and international influence to build this platform and create this much-needed community in the region. After the “InsurHack MENA”, we at QIC Group and our partners managed to come together once again online and in-person for a day of conversation, inspiration, and recommitment to the cause of reshaping the digital insurance landscape in the region to build new digital ventures and strategically invest in high potential early-stage Insurtech startups.” 

As a responsible insurer and a responsible investor, QIC Group’s InsurTech MENA Summit 2022 was yet another initiative made towards affirming its commitment to Qatar’s agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by the end of 2030. 

“InsurTech MENA Summit 2022 provided insurance companies, tech players and government entities, both regionally and globally, a platform and an opportunity to expand their digital business into new markets,” said Al–Mannai.

The CEO further stressed that QIC Group’s focus remains on enhancing shareholder value by accomplishing a profitable, successful, and socially and environmentally responsible global organisation with its heart in Qatar.

The highlights of the InsurTech MENA Summit include:

Insurance Innovation in the MENA Region by Richard Hurley, consulting partner at Deloitte Middle East; The rise of startups building a health data-driven ecosystem the power of motor insurance in the MENA region; Digital Health & Insurance’ post-pandemic future of travel insurance; How Insurtech venture capital investments unfold in the MENA region; How corporates are harnessing startups on disruptive innovation; How innovation can help insurance incumbents catchup with startups and Demo session and announcement of the 1st InsurHackMENA  winner (AVEY). 

Last April as part of its digital strategy, QIC Group announced the creation of Digital Venture Partners (QIC DVP) – a business unit that is quickly becoming the ecosystem orchestrator for Insurtech and the go-to-digital insurance partner in the MENA region.

With InsurHackMENA, QIC DVP aims to reshape the digital insurance landscape by building new digital ventures and strategically investing in high-potential early-stage startups. 

InsurTech MENA Summit 2022 is also organised in partnership with Anthems, the world’s leading Insurtech venture capital, Prifina, a leading personal data platform in Silicon Valley and Qatar Financial Centre, the go-to commercial hub between east and west, Plug and Play Middle East, the leading innovation platform in the Middle East and QLM Life & Medical Insurance Company, the leading medical and life insurer in Qatar. 

Guests, attendees, and partners all acknowledged QIC Group’s efforts and how it is playing a key role in insurance in the region.

“We are thrilled to support QIC in laying out the foundations of a thriving MENA InsurTech ecosystem, throughout this hugely successful hackathon we had the opportunity to not only discover international startups that can make a real impact and find a home in Doha, but also disruptive homegrown Qatari startups with great potential to scale globally,” said Dr. Louiza Chitour, Senior programme & partnerships manager at Plug and Play Middle East

“The MENA InsurTech hackathon showcased the brilliant talent and innovation in the region and the incredible potential for building more personalised services that compete on a global scale.

We are delighted to see innovative companies arise with a strong partner ecosystem and look forward to supporting them long term as they work on solving complex problems utilising data and Al,” said Markus Lampinen, co-founder and CEO of Prifina Inc California USA, whilst commenting on the six finalist pitches from the startups. 

“Qatar has a leading position in the insurance sector in the Middle East and developing an Insurtech epicenter is a logical step that is fully supported by Qatar Financial Centre,” said Henk Hoogendoorn, Chief of the Financial Sector Office at QFC.

Qatar Insurance Company is a publicly listed composite insurer with a consistent performance history of over 50 years and a global underwriting footprint.

Founded in 1964, QIC was the first domestic insurance company in the State of Qatar.

Today, QIC is the market leader in Qatar and a dominant insurer in the GCC and MENA region. QIC is one of the highest-rated insurers in the Gulf region with a rating of A/Stable from Standard & Poor’s and A (Excellent) from A M Best.

QIC is also the first and best digital insurance company in Qatar and the largest insurance company in the MENA region by gross written premium, profitability, and total assets.

It is listed on the Qatar Stock Exchange and has a market capitalisation in excess of 7.8bn QAR.