First Digital Insurer Candidate in Hong Kong

Hong Kong-based  OneDegree has announced a $25.5m Series A round; half of that amount will be invested once the startup obtains regulatory approval and an insurer status as the company is in the process of obtaining authorization to operate as a digital insurer in Hong Kong under the Insurance Authority’s “Fast Track” scheme launched last September.

Established in 2016, OneDegree (a team of 32 employees, according to LinkedIn) has built a scalable end-to-end digital insurance platform with the flexibility to support all personal-line general insurance and health insurance products. This proprietary platform integrates a user-friendly front-end app, making it easy for consumers to purchase and manage their insurance policies with a powerful back-end system that enables advanced analytics and automation of traditionally manual process across claims processing, policy management, and customer service.

“Today’s insurance models are no different from how it was done 100 years ago, and one of the major reasons of this inertia is outdated technology systems. We’re taking on a tall task by modernizing an industry with large incumbent players, and building a highly flexible and scalable insurance technology platform from scratch. We’re on the cusp of a new era, and our end goal is to empower customers with a smooth and seamless experience.” – Cofounder of OneDegree, Alvin Kwock.

PS. Re. “Today’s insurance models are no different from how it was done 100 years ago.” Not True. 100 years ago, insurers didn’t offer ‘online-strictly’ insurance services (BIG mistake btw), 100 years ago, insurers didn’t offer a Spotify subscription as a perk, 100 years ago, insurers didn’t communicate with prospects via WhatsApp, and 100 years ago we didn’t count 39 insurer-backed VCs.