Insurtech Avinew Acquires Betterdrive in California

Insurtech company Avinew has acquired Sunnyvalye, Calif.-based Betterdrive.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Ravindhran Sankar, CEO and founder, will be named director of research and development. Avinew will integrate Betterdrive’s technology into its own proprietary system for predictive risk calculations and related pricing discounts.

Betterdrive develops technology to predict the probability of accidents based on the route, time of day, traffic and weather conditions.

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Star Trek coming to the ETH Blockchain… First there was Bitcoin, then Ethereum, now Gold Pressed Latinum?

Greetings Commanders!

Today we are thrilled to announce that CSC is boldly going where no blockchain game has gone before! The iconic brand and ships from the show we all know and love, Star Trek, is coming to CSC in a limited time cross-universe event.

Star Trek inspired me at a young age to pursue a career in technology and it is such a privilege to bring ‘Star Trek’ into a new frontier with the first blockchain U.S.S. Enterprise. Simply put, blockchain technology provides verifiable digital ownership and enables us as developers to create Play-To-Own economies.

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BMW 530e wireless electric car charging lands in US

BMW is quietly rolling out wireless electric car charging, though only a handful of people will be able to get access to the convenience tech at first. The automaker previewed its BMW Wireless Charging system last year, alongside the new 530e plug-in hybrid.

The system works with a wireless charging pad that’s designed to be put on the floor of a garage. When the BMW 530e pulls near the pad, guidance lines shown on a top-down view of the car through one of the dashboard displays help the driver position it.

In place, the car charges via a wireless power receiver mounted underneath, avoiding the need to plug it in manually. Although its 3.2 kW charging rate is not as quick as a wired charger could be – taking roughly 3.5 hours to fully charge the 530e’s battery – the convenience is expected to be the primary draw. After all, with most EV charging taking place at home, anything which makes that process easier has to be a good thing.

What BMW wouldn’t say last year is just when the wireless charging system would be available in the US. Now, through a pilot programoperated by Qmerit, the first 530e drivers will have access. That is, assuming they live in California and satisfy a couple of other criteria.

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Netspend and DailyPay Announce Strategic Partnership

Expense volatility is an extremely real concern for consumers across incomes and occupations, and it causes financial instability that leads to a lack of savings, late fees and, in many cases, debt. Today, we’re excited to share the news that we have joined forces with DailyPay to help tackle financial insecurity so that people around the country can take better control over their hard-earned wages.

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30 insurance innovators to watch

Insurtech is still a relatively young sector defining assumptions. Despite some light quarters for insurtech investment in late 2017 and early 2018, the segment roared back with back-to-back billion-dollar quarters of worldwide investment. This included some of the largest rounds ever, with rounds in the hundreds of millions for companies ranging from turnkey usage-based insurance provider Cambridge Mobile Telematics (from last year’s list) to health insurance disruptor Oscar (which appears on this year’s edition).

There’s a key reason for this: Insurers are getting more comfortable working with insurtechs as thesector has evolved and matured. Successful use cases across technologies like artificial intelligence, computer vision and even blockchain have popped up. The trepidation has largely worn off and insurers see insurtechs as their partners in transformation, not enemies to be feared. And insurance experts are finding their voice in being able to communicate a new vision for their industry.

In order to assemble the list on the following pages, Digital Insurance editors consult third party experts, including some who have previously been on the list, to identify the players representing the top level of the game as it stands this year. Their work will shape the conversation around insurance innovation and influence future editions.

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