Tracking risk with more accuracy, selling products in more innovative and cheaper ways, and cutting administration costs. These are three key areas in which large insurers are hoping for fintech help. Here's how four young companies - all featured in Startupbootcamp's first insurance accelerator that ended in April - are trying to deliver on that promise.

Fitsense
Founded in Singapore in 2015, Fitsense has developed a platform to help health and life insurance providers personalise their pricing and improve risk ratings. The company's data analytics platform collects data from a user's smartphone or wearable device, such as fitness bracelet Fitbit, and standardises it so it can be used by insurance to better calculate risk. This enables the insurance company to collect information on a user's behaviour and make risk calculations that are based on current data, rather than answers to a standardised questionnaire. This means, for example, that a client who rides a bike to work every day could obtain cheaper health insurance than if they sat on their couch all day. Fitsense technology could also be used by insurers to influence clients towards more healthy choices, by helping them track their behaviour and offering them rewards when they have achieved certain goals.

Spixii
UK-based Spixii has created an "automated insurance agent" - or a chatbot - that enables insurers to sell policies via mobile chat applications. Similarly to chatting on Whatsapp, the user is asked questions about their needs and is then offered an appropriate product without having to fill in long forms or switch to another device. The product can then be purchased through the chatbot. Spixii's chatbot speaks simple jargon-free language, so questions related to travel insurance would include things such as "When are you leaving?" and "Will you be away for more than three months?". Spixii says its tool would enable insurers to improve their distribution by increasing their interaction with customers. On the other hand, users would benefit from receiving more contextual information on products and services, which makes it easier to choose which insurance policy to buy. For example, the chatbot could tell a user what proportion of people travelling to a certain destination have acquired a certain policy.

Massup
Massup is a German startup that has developed technology that enables ecommerce businesses to offer one-click insurance for the products they sell on their website. Massup has aggregated 150 niche insurance products from various carriers, ranging from coverage for electric bikes to policies for expensive sunglasses. Its technology can then be plugged into an online retailer's platform, so that its customers can purchase insurance at the same time as they are purchasing the product, without having to hunt down who provides that specific type of insurance after the purchase. MassUp believes that by enabling cross-selling opportunities, its technology can help both ecommerce companies and insurance providers increase their sales volumes.

RightIndem
UK-based RightIndem has developed software that is aimed at making claims processing easier and more efficient for both insurers and their clients. The startup, founded in 2015, is currently focused on the auto insurance market. By deploying RightIndem's platform, auto insurers can allow their customers to submit and manage their claims online. This means users can provide all the relevant information for a claim - including pictures of their damaged cars - online, instead of having to fill in paper forms and spend lots of time on the phone. While the claim is being processed, clients can track its progress online and are provided with explanations by the insurer on the decisions that are being made. Clients can also decide how they want to be paid after a claim through the platform.