Ten days ago Ledger Insights revealed that the Blockchain Insurance Industry Initiative, B3i had raised $20 million, but the round may not yet be complete. Today B3i has confirmed that three new insurers have joined the “current funding round” and did not disclose figures. The new investors, all reinsurers, are Mapfre Re, Deutsche Rück and VIG Re, increasing the number of shareholders to 16. The original funding target was rumored to be $200 – 300 million.
B3i aims to gain efficiencies and enhanced security by using R3 Corda’s distributed ledger technology (DLT).
“B3i’s community of shareholders and other network participants exceeds 40 companies who represent over half the world’s reinsurance premium and major primary insurers,” said Antony Elliott, B3i’s new chairman and Group Head of Business Transformation at Zurich. “B3i will continue to expand its shareholder and user base over the next several months as the initial products are rolled out.”
The announcement states that the first product, its Excess of Loss (XOL) reinsurance offering is “being evaluated by several insurers, reinsurers and brokers”. The solution is expected to go into production in Q4 with the aim of live renewals being processed at the year-end.
XOL is the first of several solutions which will include risk placement, accounting and claims. The company recently hired Antonio Di Marzo from Generali who joined as Product Owner for Commercial Insurance.
The existing 13 shareholders are Achmea, Aegon, Ageas, Allianz, AXA, Generali, Hannover Re, Liberty Mutual, Munich Re, SCOR, Swiss Re, Tokio Marine and Zurich Insurance Group.
