A growth that does not concern only Italy but that extends worldwide: in the first half of 2021, global Insurtech investments were higher than in 2020, amounting to 7.5 billion euros on about 350 deals. Within this context, Italy is progressing, albeit slowly, with about 120 million euros invested, including not only investments in startups, but also those in technologies made by the main players in the market. In 2020, about 50 million were invested, but we are still not approaching the European average.
National and European institutions seem interested in Insurtech: we see it in the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) with projects for open insurance and embedded insurance, and for technological resilience, which will raise the bar on cybersecurity.
Publicization and awareness of all industry players and sector insiders also play an important role: the public debate within the Insurtech industry has grown, involving all stakeholders, both institutional and market stakeholders, in every part of the value chain.
On the other hand, regarding the weaknesses of the sector, there is a need to plan much more personnel training and to attract talents by promoting the creation of innovative work environments, to offer remuneration in line with the international market and to schedule detailed and punctual internal training programs for the teams involved to grow.
In the coming years, the amount of investment will certainly grow, causing more pressure on the labor market to recruit digitally skilled professionals, just as the supply of digital insurance will increase.
In summary, we need more startups, investments, skills and more experimentation, even bold experimentation, within the supply chain, but the outlook is positive and very encouraging.