Bermuda seeks insurtech opportunities in Toronto

Bermuda premier David Burt has led a delegation to North American tech conference Collision, held in Toronto, to attract fintech and insurtech businesses to the island.

Around 25,000 delegates have attended the conference, which include investors and start-ups. Bermuda’s delegation is comprised of government, industry and the Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA).

"[Fintech companies] are now looking at us and are talking to our Bermuda Monetary Authority, because they want to be regulated with a regulator that understands what they're trying to do, in a jurisdiction that is ready now-not one that's taking the approach of waiting a year or two to ensure structures are in place," said Burt.

Burt was accompanied by chief fintech advisor Denis Pitcher, along with BDA CEO Andy Burrows, and attended meetings with Toronto-based industry groups and fintech entrepreneurs, with the aim of developing strategic partnerships.

The Bermuda delegation held meetings with Accenture, SparkLabs Foundry, the Toronto Business Development Centre (TBDC), Toronto Finance International (TFI), the MaRS Discovery District, and Canada's leading crypto exchange Coinbase, among other fintech-related entities.

Insurtech accelerator RGAx, a subsidiary of Reinsurance Group of America, hosted a private thought-leadership gathering at its downtown Toronto offices for the Bermuda delegates, with participation by executives from AIG Canada, Berkshire Hathaway, and several insurance-related start-up ventures.

“The idea was to get a number of industry actors together from government and insurance, as well as the start-up community, to really see how industry innovation can move forward," said host Mitch Ocampo, a software engineer who now heads the Studio Innovation Lab at RGAx. "My role is built on the notion of co-creation and collaboration, so being able to work with Team Bermuda and explore ways in which we can move the industry forward is worth making time for."