Top Scottish tech entrepreneurs launch new insurtech firm

Tech entrepreneurs Chris van der Kuyl and Paddy Burns, the duo whose Dundee firm 4J Studios brought the Minecraft phenomenon to the world’s consoles, have today announced the launch of their new insurtech business focused on the commercial insurance broker market.

Burns and van der Kuyl, have teamed-up with two former senior Aviva broker executives to found Broker Insights, a platform that they said aims to “bridge the information gap between brokers and insurers around customer data by maximising the distribution and sales of insurance products through brokers across the UK, driving down costs and boosting the bottom line”.

The Dundee-based firm has been co-founded by CEO Fraser Edmond, former broker distribution director at Aviva; Iain Crole, formerly head of broker sales for the UK at Aviva; Sandy Cairnie (COO); Paddy Burns (non-executive director), CEO of 4J Studios, and will be chaired by Chris van der Kuyl, Chairman of 4J Studios, TV Squared and Entrepreneurial Scotland.

The team said they are already in advanced talks with a number of leading UK and global insurers as they targeting up to 100 brokers to join the platform over the next twelve months.

They said the technology enables broker customer data to be shared in an effective way on a trusted platform, helping brokers access more products and services for their clients while helping insurers increase distribution reach to brokers.

CEO, Fraser Edmond, said: “We are deploying broker data in a way that will transform commercial insurance distribution and trading. There is a huge opportunity to make an impact by helping to modernise a very traditional marketplace by focusing on data analytics, user experience and bringing the UK’s insurers and brokers much closer together so they can trade better. In addition to driving business for our insurer partners and brokers, this also benefits the end customer which is a win-win. We see scope for the model being replicated in other territories and have built international expansion into our strategy and product roadmap from day one.”

Chris van der Kuyl, added: “These guys bring deep industry sector knowledge, first mover advantage and tonnes of ambition to a market that knows it needs to embrace the application of technology and data analytics to drive efficiencies. We’re very excited about the prospects for the business and I look forward to working closely with the team over the months and years ahead to help ensure they reach their full potential.”

The business will be headquartered at Water’s Edge in Dundee, a new cutting-edge work space for entrepreneurial companies that is due to open in the city in early 2018.