Insurtech Gateway Australia has been awarded additional funding after a year of successful incubations and plans to incubate 20 new companies over the next five years.

CEO Simon O’Dell says the unique Gateway model was recognised by investors as a leading vehicle for accessing insurtech value.

“Gateway Australia’s latest funding announcement ensures that Australia and New Zealand’s founders will continue to compete with an unfair advantage in the red-hot global insurtech space,” Mr O’Dell said.

Insurtech Gateway Australia launched in 2019 with a mission to support local early-stage insurtech businesses. It also imports global technology and facilitates some of Australia’s leading founders.

Part of the Insurtech Gateway, headquartered in London, it has supported four early-stage founding teams in Australia with access to underwriting capacity, regulatory compliance, pre-seed funding, a tech stack and expert guidance on product market fit, distribution and the design of the insurance product, including KOBA, which is launching its first policy this month.

“From the very start, the Gateway Australia team believed in us,” Co-founder Andrew Wong said, “Without them we would not have been able to bring this product to market”.

Mr O’Dell says the licensed launch platform allows entrepreneurs to stay independent, while having access to valuable local resources.

“We are a beacon for early stage founders in Australia … with the capabilities to bring bold new ideas to the insurance market. They can also plug into the global Gateway ecosystem, benefiting from access to centralised funding vehicles and permissions to help them scale into new markets,” he said.

The Global Gateway Group has a collective portfolio of 25 insurtechs and Insurtech Gateway HQ Co-Founder Stephen Brittain says there is a “huge funding gap” when it comes to early stage startups. And he was delighted to see Gateway Australia receiving support for its next stage of growth.

“Their burgeoning portfolio of home grown and imported technology companies is showing great signs of growth in some of the most testing times the industry has seen,” Mr Brittain said.