By Catherine Loftus / Head of Growth Marketing, Nuon AI
In this second instalment of our review of 2022, we’ll be taking a walk through a year of very exciting growth and development for Nuon AI.
Along with the progress we’ve made, we are also taking important learnings into next year. Our team remains very small – there are just seven of us – which means we have had to learn very quickly how to prioritise and adapt.
In part one of this series, we looked at the challenges this past year has presented to the insurance industry as a whole – and it’s fair to say, they have been significant.
Catch up here: 2022 in Review – Part One: Innovation flourishes, despite the challenges
In 2021, our team – who have worked together across three startups and five insurance technology companies – started to build an AI solution to tackle a true pain point. How can pricing strategy keep pace with an industry that is ever more complex and competitive? The answer, we believe, is real-time pricing AI.
With the core technology developed, 2022 became our year of testing our hypotheses and feeling out the industry’s appetite. Despite challenging conditions with the backdrop of an economic downturn and the continuing impacts of the pandemic, the signs are very positive.
While the unwelcome return of a bear market may have been signalled in tech, we have seen a bullish sentiment from customers in the insurance space. Transformation projects continue to press ahead as insurers seek improved efficiency and the performance increases that can only come with investment in growth.
Some highlights and learnings:
Proving our AI & gaining customer traction
Across the UK, US and Northern Europe, the interest in Nuon AI’s solution has kept our small but agile team very busy this year. Customer feedback is the lifeblood of any organisation, large or small, so hearing first-hand that we are solving an age-old insurance pricing problem has kept us pointing in the right direction.
One of our main priorities going into 2022 was to prove the AI’s impact on insurance product performance with live customers. For any start-up looking to gain traction, prioritising customer proof is essential.
The numbers we have seen speak for themselves:
+11.5%
Uplift in a UK motor insurer’s standard rates, in an A:B test
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+3%
Growth in a US home insurer’s policy premium, within 15 days
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Breaking down barriers to innovation
We know only too well from our 20+ years working together in the insurance industry that the constraints of internal resourcing can stifle innovation.
Technical resourcing and competing priorities should not hold growth back, so we’ve been really focused on streamlining our technical implementation process – and it’s working. By spending the time upfront investing in automation and engineering processes, our team is able to set up and support customers quickly and smoothly.
<1 week
Time taken for a UK travel insurer to implement Nuon AI
Gaining industry recognition
Industry recognition is a positive indicator that you are doing something right, so these achievements meant a lot to us:
- Announcing our £1m pre-seed round, bringing on board high-profile insurance industry angels and new venture investors
- Being named a Rising Star by Tech Nation and making the AIFinTech100 list
Thank you to the investors, advisors and industry figures who have supported Nuon AI this year.
Taking the Nuon AI brand into the real world
As a fully-remote, distributed team, the return of in-person events and meetings signalled a welcome change of pace to home-working.
- We sponsored the Underwriting Innovation Europe event, showcasing how our real-time pricing technology can help underwriters improve profitability, grow market share and react faster to market conditions. Watch our showcase back here.
- Nuon AI co-founder Matthew and Nuon partner Paul headed to DIA Amsterdam for a two-day event packed with inspiration and industry insights, bringing our trademark neon yellow glow to the show. Head over here to read what we learned from our first forays into event sponsorship.
A year of learning
The freedom to make mistakes and learn from them is a central tenet of ‘the Nuon Way’ – our company’s cultural manifesto. Some of the top personal learnings from the team make for inspiring reading.
“Patience and persistence pay. If you really believe in something; don’t ever relent, keep going. The moment you personally have any doubt, make a change, adapt and learn.”
“Take advice from many and never listen to just one. Make your own judgement.”
“You can contribute far more by listening than you can by talking.”
What’s next for Nuon AI?
Looking forward to 2023, we will continue to put our customers at the centre of our neon yellow universe. Our roadmap for H1 includes development of our Customer AI Dashboard, plus further investments in customer experience, automation and content. Watch this space.
Wishing all our customers and connections a restful festive season – and we’ll see you in 2023 for another exciting year of growth.
