DOHA, Qatar, Sunday June 26, 2022:  The InsurTech MENA Summit 2022 marked a seminal moment in insurance change, drawing attention to the rising importance of insurance industry partnerships. In this first of its kind event in the region - organized by Qatar Insurance Group, the leading insurer in Qatar and the MENA region, in partnership with Deloitte, Google Cloud, QIC Digital Venture Partner (QIC DVP) and Qatar Financial Centre - 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 through new value propositions and solutions in big tech analytics, AI/ML, behavioral economics and conversational AI and officiate the InsurTech MENA Ecosystem. 

 

In what was QIC Group’s first hybrid event, 500 participants viewed and interacted online and more than 250 attended the 1- day summit in-person at St Regis Hotel in Doha Qatar, last Thursday – 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 6 Insurtech startup finalists from “InsurHack MENA” - the first InsurTech Hackathon in the MENA region, also organized 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 around insurance in the region. 

 

Attendees were fortunate and 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 by building new digital ventures and strategically investing 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 the State of Qatar’s agreement, to reduce greenhouse gas emission 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” Al Mannai added. He further stressed that QIC Group’s focus remain in enhancing shareholder value by accomplishing a profitable, successful and socially and environmentally responsible global organization, with its heart in Qatar. 

 

 

InsurTech MENA Summit MENA Highlights: 

 

- Insurance Innovation in the MENA region by Richard Hurley – Consulting Partner at Deloitte Middle East.

- The rise of start-ups.

- Building 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 start-ups on disruptive innovation 

- How can innovation help insurance incumbents catchup with start-ups

- Demo Session and Announcement of the 1st MENA Hackathon #insurhackMENA (AVEY)

 

It’s worth mentioning that 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 InsurHack, 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 organized in partnership with Anthemis - the world’s leading InsurTech Venture Capital, Prifina - a leading personal data platform in Silicon Valley and Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), the go-to commercial hub between East & 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 efforts and playing a key role in insurance in the region.  

 

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

 

“The MENA Insurtech hackathon showcased the brilliant talent and innovation in the region, and the incredible potential for building more personalized 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 utilizing data and AI.” said Markus Lampinen, Cofounder and CEO, Prifina Inc California USA, commenting on the 6 finalists’ pitches from startups. 

 

Qatar Insurance Company (QIC) 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 regions. 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 & 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 capitalization in excess of QAR 7.8 billion.