Today, there is an imbalance between the demand and supply of general insurance. This imbalance is largely due to the inefficient workflow and process that insurers and intermediaries deal with. But Singaporean insurtech Surer is looking to change this status quo. With an innovative cloud-based platform, Surer helps automate the workflows and processes of the insurance industry. Thereby allowing insurers and intermediaries to save time, better serve consumers, and scale their businesses. Here’s how the company is leveraging technology to unlock the latent potential of the insurance industry.
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What is Surer?
Surer is a cloud-based insurtech platform with a digital ecosystem of intermediaries and insurance providers. Its technological solutions help connect different stakeholders across the insurance sector. Thus, enabling greater efficiencies across the industry. Insurance brokers can close deals faster with the company’s platform, and insurers can easily distribute their products to consumers. A certified Insurtech service provider by the Singapore Fintech Association, the company has won several awards. It recently won the ‘Partners of FinTech’ award at Singapore FinTech Festival Global FinTech Awards 2021. Insurance Business Asia also named the company one of the top insurance innovators.
The challenges faced by the insurance industry
Delving into the issues Surer is solving, Gordon explained, “One of the most significant gaps in the Singaporean insurance market is the mismatch between supply and demand. There is a considerable need for insurance, particularly amongst SMEs, where 70% are underinsured. Additionally, despite approximately 30 significant insurers, there is a severe lack of representation for insurers outside the market leaders. Thus, consumers don’t get to see all of their options. Meanwhile, intermediaries have their own set of challenges.”
The primary challenge facing insurance intermediaries is the complex process of registering with an insurer. Another caveat is having real-time information on evolving insurance packages. Moreover, there are legal restrictions based on the license of each intermediary. For example, it’s typical for these companies only to represent 3 insurers. Naturally, this limit restricts the services a single intermediary can provide consumers. Hence, many form collaborative partnerships. These combined factors result in a complex workflow, holding the insurance industry back.
How Surer is unlocking the potential of the insurance industry
Recognizing these challenges, Surer is utilizing technology to unlock the latent potential of the industry. “Without a doubt, we are in the business of resolving efficiency and speed optimization through our digital platform for the insurance industry,” states Gordon. By increasing the efficiency of the workflows by insurance intermediaries, the company creates great value for its ecosystem. The system enables collaborative discussion between all parties to provide coverage based on the customers’ needs. With Surer, intermediaries will enjoy simplified workflows while gaining access to more information to help consumers quickly make informed decisions. The system can also craft customized insurance packages for a customer’s unique needs.
The Journey of Surer thus far and beyond
It has been an exciting journey thus far for Surer, and they are still gaining momentum. The company began in 2020 as a bootstrapped startup between Gordon Tay, Darren Teo, and Renfred. While Gordon brought expertise in running startup operations, Renfred came on board as CFO, with Derren bringing 15 years of experience in the insurance industry to the company. They were later joined by Mei Yuan Yue, who joined the leadership team as CTO. They launched during the early days of the pandemic with a collection of insurers and intermediaries under their belt. It boiled down to their collective philosophy of constant improvement in those early days of Surer.
They had to initially overcome a cultural mindset of consistent physical meetings that was prevalent at the time by pushing for stakeholders to trust and embrace the new normal of a digital platform. Then, it was an eye for a customer experience that took them beyond a hand-holding phase and right into the sweet spot that assured precise addressing of the gap in the market. In October 2021, they successfully closed a seed round of $1 million and are currently focused on improving their technology stack and ensuring they are hiring effectively to maintain a sustainable operation.
With an updated version of Surer launched in 2022, close to 400 intermediaries, over 2000 proposals and quotations created, and bringing in a Gross Written Premium of S$ 2.5 million, the business is well on its way to tremendous growth. “We are also looking into assisting with the customer onboarding processes for insurers and intermediaries as that is a complex process that Surer can significantly simplify. Also, we would like to ensure that we can provide a space for smaller non-traditional players who may need to provide smaller insurances on items such as TVs’ and more,” remarked Gordon.
In this journey to create more access, efficiency, speed, and demystify the insurance processes, Surer remains committed to consistently improving its platform. Thereby making a more significant safety net for businesses that is easy to use and effective for their specific needs in a holistic way through their digital platform.
