Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1462565
25 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | March 28, 2022 with a stream of new products and resources. With its work paying off, Cigna in February committed a fresh $450 million to venture capital operations. "The reason we exist is to help clients and customers have a much better, simpler, more predictable, more affordable healthcare experience," said Tom Richards, Cigna's global lead of strategy and business development, and overseer of Cigna Ventures. The unit is healthcare-centric, focusing on three areas: insights and analytics; digital health and experience, which centers on improving customers' interactions with health services; and care delivery and enablement, which covers telehealth and digital health and looks for ways to deploy care more efficiently and effectively. "We are very much tied to Cigna's strategy," Richards said. "In the vast majority of our investments, Cigna is also a customer. We're not just investing because something looks interesting. All the companies we work with are doing interesting things, but it's very much tied to the value we can bring back to clients, customers and providers." Richards described Cigna Ventures' investments as partnerships, in which the insurer provides companies with expertise and insights to help them grow. He offered the example of MDLIVE, a telehealth company that Cigna began using in 2013. Cigna Ventures invested in MDLIVE in 2018, taking on a board-observer role and actively assisting with product development; three years later Cigna's health services arm Evernorth acquired MDLIVE outright. The buyout has helped Cigna further develop and refine its telehealth offerings, which it was building up long before the COVID-19 pandemic made virtual care a necessity for doctors' offices, clinics and hospitals across the country. Another success story is Buoy, which Cigna has invested in since 2019. When the pandemic hit, Buoy came up with a tool to help users self-diagnose COVID-19, and Cigna got the application up and running across its different platforms and portals, where hundreds of thousands of customers had access to it. Richards said the new capital infusion will help Cigna speed up its work in the venture world. "I'd say what we're looking to do is just accelerate," he said. "There's so much opportunity. In health care, we do a lot of innovation ourselves, but we think there's a lot of value in helping these new companies." Controlling risk Munich Re late last year closed a new $500 million venture fund, known as Munich Re Fund II, which will invest in areas such as climate technology, transportation, insurtech and cybersecurity. The addition brings the venture segment's total assets under management to over $1 billion. LeSage said Munich Re's venture activities started in 2014. At the time, they were only focused on Hartford Steam Boiler's core lines, such as industrial and commercial equipment insurance and cybersecurity, but eventually the entire company saw the value and got onboard, switching to a traditional fund structure supported by all of Munich Re's different subsidiary companies. Munich Re now has several different funds, centered on sectors such as insurtech, industrial and commercial equipment, transportation and — of ever-increasing importance — cybersecurity and climate technology. "The focus is not only what's going on in insurtech, but what's going on in the world, to help mitigate those risks," LeSage said. On the cyber front, Munich Re has invested in At-Bay, a cyber insurance provider that underwrites insurance policies through Hartford Steam Boiler. Both entities are seeing new demand for their services as damaging cyber attacks continue to strike U.S. and European firms, and governments try to incentivize companies to adopt safeguards. LeSage said major insurers will likely continue to pour resources into their venture strategies to fuel growth. "It's been a success story for the venture sector and the insurance industry," she said. Total investor financing for insurtech companies worldwide Q1 '19 $1.44 billion Q2 '19 $1.41 billion Q3 '19 $1.5 billion Q4 '19 $1.98 billion Q1 '20 $912 million Q2 '20 $1.55 billion Q3 '20 $2.53 billion Q4 '20 $2.1 billion Q1 '21 $2.55 billion Q2 '21 $4.82 billion Source: Statista Hartford, state and United Kingdom dignitaries sign an agreement to form an InsurTech Corridor between the state and UK. 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Butler Manufacturing™ is a division of BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. 2155 East Main Street • Torrington, Connecticut 06790 Wittmann Battenfeld, Torrington, CT Napoli Retail, Southington, CT Nufern, East Granby, CT Windsor Marketing Group (WMG), Suffield, CT The Belknap White Group, Hartford, CT Since 1942, The Single Source Construction Firm Since 1942, our goal has been simple: To provide our clients with complete design, planning and construction services for commercial, industrial and retail buildings. Based on years of experience, we're price competitive and offer high quality. When the strictest attention to detail is critical to your success, you can always count on Borghesi to deliver. From concept to occupancy, Borghesi is your single source. Contact us at 860-482-7613 or visit us on the web. AKDO, Bridgeport, CT Stevens Manufacturing, Milford, CT Building Ideas That Work … www.borghesibuilding.com © 2011 BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. All rights reserved. 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