26 II. Robotics IV. Blockchain Last year’s Startupbootcamp InsurTech analysis suggested robotics would Blockchain, by contrast, has yet to feature in significant numbers of In- also make a splash in the InsurTech sector and this prediction appears to be surTech propositions. Only 3% of applicants to Startupbootcamp In- coming true – this year’s program received three times as many applica- surTech this year employ blockchain as their primary technology – tions from firms using robotics applications. The emergence of robotic half the proportion seen in 2016. This might be considered surprising, but process automation (RPA) and intelligent process automation (IPA) is poten- despite the hype surrounding distributed ledger technologies – and the un- tially exciting for a range of insurance use cases. doubted potential for their use in insurance – the industry so far is adopt- ing a ‘wait and see’ approach because, in the main, they are unsure where III. The Internet of Things it can provide differentiated value. Blockchain is still a new technology to Elsewhere, the IoT continues to excite, though only 13% of applicants to the many and more time is needed for it to be fully understood and explored. Startupbootcamp InsurTech program this year relied on it as underpinning their proposition. Given the applications in insurance of concepts such as This is not to suggest, however, that blockchain does not have a bright fu- connected health, the connected home and wearables, as well as the po- ture. The recent PoC completed by PwC for Lloyd’s of London is one exam- tential to change perceptions of insurance by moving away from an indem- ple of the application of distributed ledger technology– a more widespread nity to protection-focussed model, IoT-based InsurTechs have a promising breakthrough may simply be yet to come. future and have attracted significant backing from investors. Over half of applicants to this year’s program employed emerging technologies such as AI or IoT compared to 40% last year, an increase of 13% percentage points.