Asian insurtech investment set to rebound in 2024

Asia’s insurtech sector has increased in breadth and depth in recent years. With the region currently poised as the fastest-growing global market for insurtech investment the tech space remains key to the transformation of Asian insurance business

According to a recent report on the global insurtech market, while the US is still the leading region for overall insurtech investments, Asia is experiencing the highest rate of growth in venture capital investments. In fact, it was up 58% year-on-year, as of mid-2023.[1]

A number of Asian jurisdictions, including China, have been rolling out policy initiatives to promote digital transformation of financial services. [2] And in the short term, we believe the rate of growth is likely to be higher in Southeast Asian jurisdictions.

As such, appetite from the region’s tech-savvy population for insurtech-driven products is likely to attract further investment into this space in 2024.

For example, the insurtech space in Singapore is becoming more vibrant, attracting the most investment of all Asian markets in the first half of 2023,[3] and this is expected to continue into next year.

Insurtech business in Thailand also remains buoyant, alongside other Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia. While Thailand in particular has seen continued investment from local players, the Southeast Asia region as a whole has also attracted investment from multinational insurers, particularly for insurtech solutions related to personal lines business.

There is also optimism that inward investment into the insurance sectors in Mainland China and the Hong Kong SAR will rise steadily in the next year.

Despite this, the global environment for insurtech investment could remain challenging for some start-ups. It’s likely that only those companies that have already established themselves as market leaders, or service providers that offer genuinely innovative and unique solutions, are going to attract interest from capital providers.