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  <ul>
    <li>
      <p>
        Root Insurance (Root), a usage-based automobile insurance provider, has raised USD 300 million in debt funding from BlackRock Financial Management (BlackRock).&nbsp;
      </p>
    </li>
  </ul>
  <ul>
    <li>
      <p>
        The funds come in the form of a five-year term loan with an interest rate of term SOFR + 9%, with BlackRock being issued share warrants equal to 2% of all issued and outstanding shares on a diluted basis at an exercise price of USD 9.00 per share. BlackRock is also entitled to have an observer attend meetings of the board of directors.
      </p>
    </li>
  </ul>
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    <li>
      <p>
        Root plans to use the fresh funding to extend its debt maturity and improve its liquidity position.
      </p>
    </li>
  </ul>
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  </p>
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<div>
  <p>
    <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/01/26/2373889/0/en/Root-Announces-Closing-of-New-Term-Loan-Facility-with-BlackRock.html">
      Press release
    </a>
  </p>
  <p>
    <a href="https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2022/01/27/651114.htm">
      Insurance Journal
    </a>
  </p>
</div>


Neo Insurance

Root Insurance raises USD 300 million in debt funding

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 <p>MassMutual has teamed up with Genomics plc to offer a genetic risk assessment service to its policyholders. Those who are eligible can utilize a saliva test to determine their risk for eight prevalent diseases.</p>
 <p>Such genetic data offers insight into the chances of contracting a disease, thereby assisting patients and doctors in making informed and proactive health decisions.&nbsp;</p>
 <p>It's important to note that individual test outcomes are not disclosed to MassMutual and do not impact insurance policies. Initial collaboration findings suggest a strong interest among policyholders in utilizing the health risk information provided.</p>
 
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MassMutual and Genomics plc partner to offer personalized genetic risk assessment to policyowners

ANALYST_QUICK_TAKE

<div>

 <p>Lemonade, an end-to-end insurance company offering various personal line insurance products, has introduced its homeowners' insurance in France. This launch is in collaboration with BNP Paribas Cardif, with the latter's extensive domestic market experience, spanning five decades.</p>
 <p>Pricing for the policy starts at EUR 10 per month (~USD 11 per month). The base coverage includes fire protection, water damage, reconstruction costs, and civil liability. Additional add-ons like school insurance, legal protection, and theft coverage outside the home are offered. </p>
 <p>The insurance policy can be purchased by French residents via the Lemonade App or BNP Paribas Cardif's website. Lemonade is licensed and regulated by the Dutch Central Bank (DNB) and operates under the European Freedom of Services regime in France. The homeowners' insurance policy is underwritten by BNP Paribas Cardif and Lemonade Insurance N.V. candidly as co-insurers.</p>

</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
 </b> Lemonade entered France in December 2020 by offering renters' insurance. The introduction of homeowners' insurance further bolsters the company's ambitions for global expansion, marking its transition from a monoline insurer to a multi-line insurer in Europe.</p>

Lemonade launches homeowners insurance in France in partnership with BNP Paribas Cardif

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 <p>American Family Life Insurance has chosen Munich Re's ALLFINANZ NOVA, a cloud-based automated underwriting and analytics solution. </p>
 <p>This SaaS platform will enable the insurance company to improve customer service and speed up the life insurance application process. It achieves this through features such as automated underwriting, access to third-party electronic data, and analytics.</p>
 
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American Family Life Insurance selects Munich Re's automated underwriting solution

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 <p>Insurance provider Aviva has launched a new telematics-based auto insurance service, Aviva MyDrive, available as a free add-on to customers purchasing Aviva's Online car insurance through a price comparison website. The service aims to encourage safer driving habits in users and potentially offers reduced insurance premiums as a reward.</p>
 <p>The Aviva MyDrive app uses smartphone data to assess the driving behaviour of its users, taking into consideration acceleration, braking intensity, cornering technique, speed, and phone use while at the wheel.&nbsp;</p>
 <p>Aviva has stated that approximately 85% of Aviva MyDrive users are likely to receive a discount on their next insurance renewal based on their recorded driving habits.</p>
 
</div>

Aviva launches Aviva MyDrive, a telematics-based auto insurance

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 <p>Verisk, an insurance predictive analytics and decision support solutions provider, has collaborated with Seek Now, a property inspection service provider. The goal of this partnership is to enhance Verisk's property estimation tools utilizing Seek Now's technology to aid claim adjusters in property damage assessment.</p>
 <p>The integration caters to all claim types, including wind, hail, and water damage, and gives adjusters immediate access to ground-level data often within 24 hours, thereby facilitating a streamlined adjudication process.</p>
 
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Verisk partners with Seek Now to enhance property insurance claims processing

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 <p>Yonder, a credit card company located in the UK, has joined forces with Qover, an embedded insurance provider to offer travel insurance to Yonder's members.</p>
 <p>This insurance coverage guarantees various compensations, including for inconveniences during travel and accommodation, delayed departures or cancellations, incidents during winter sports, theft of baggage, and other scenarios.</p>
 <p>The customer is insured as soon as they secure a full membership with Yonder.</p>
 
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Qover partners with Yonder to offer travel insurance for cardholders

<div>
 
 <p>Zesty.ai, a property risk analytics provider that uses AI, has introduced a new product called "Roof Age". This solution determines the age of a roof with more than 90% accuracy by using building permits data, historical imagery, and AI.</p>
 <p>As part of a suite of roof-related risk products, Roof Age complements other offerings such as Digital Roof, and risk models for specific perils including Z-HAIL, Z-WIND, and Z-STORM.</p>
 <p>ZestyAI anticipates that Roof Age will enable insurance carriers to increase their premiums, reduce losses, and enhance property inspections. By offering a more precise evaluation of roof age and condition, it helps insurers to make better underwriting and rating decisions, and to avoid reliance on unreliable data from policyholders.</p>
 
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ZestyAI launches Roof Age solution to gain insights into property roofs and improve premium capture

<div>
<p>InsurTech company Open, based in Australia, has purchased So-Sure, a UK firm that specializes in mobile phone and contents insurance. The cost of the acquisition has not been made public. So-Sure has a distinctive business strategy for offering mobile and contents insurance. They seek to restore customer trust in insurance claims procedures by providing straightforward support and prompt replacement of insured items as needed. Furthermore, their platform allows policyholders to link their policies within their app. It incentivizes no-claim conduct by refunding up to 80% of the premium to its clients at the end of each year. </p>
<p>With this acquisition, Open plans to leverage So-Sure's innovative business approach to expand its market share in the UK. This acquisition is a major milestone in Open's growth strategy, reinforcing its worldwide presence. </p>
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Open acquires So-Sure to bolster UK presence and extend product range

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<p>Clearcover, a digital auto insurance company, has introduced a new claims intake tool powered by GenAI. This tool is designed to digitize and streamline the processing of statement collection. It utilizes large language models (LLMs) which guide the user through a conversational experience after the First Notice of Loss (FNOL), collecting all necessary information about the accident.</p>
<p>The new tool features a claims assistant and a function for real-time customer question resolution, which are accessible through Clearcover's mobile app. This aims to expedite the claims process, with some eligible claims reportedly being paid out in as little as 30 minutes. Clearcover has future plans to integrate this tool into its agent portal and website.</p>

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Clearcover launches GenAI Solution to streamline insurance claims process

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 <p>Honeycomb, a digital landlord and homeowners insurance provider, has extended its services to Connecticut and Virginia. This expansion means they now cover close to 60% of the US population.</p>
 <p>The firm's services are accessible in 16 states, which include Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin.</p>
 <p>Having begun operations in 2021, Honeycomb presently insures assets valued at USD 21 billion, demonstrating a YoY growth rate of 200%-300%.</p>
 
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