• The Company is striving to become a major player in the insurtech ecosystem by 2025, moving from a stake in direct channels of less than 3% to more than 10% of total written premiums.
• This initiative aims to reach 2.6 million new clients, develop 22 voluntary solutions and democratize access to insurance throughout the region.
• More than 250 people are estimated to become involved with the project over the next 5 years, 100 of whom shall be located in Colombia.

Suramericana announced its decision to enter the insurtech ecosystem in Latin America upon creating this new company. This new investment on the part of Seguros SURA is aimed at driving the digital transformation process for its different lines of business and improving the experience of all those who wish to purchase insurance in a simple straightforward manner, from the convenience of their own cell phones.

Suramericana´s insurtech shall accelerate the Company’s digital process so that any person may interact with Seguros SURA 24 hours a day, 7 days a week while having their different insurance policies at their fingertips. This new company shall also draw up innovative strategies enabling the Suramericana subsidiaries throughout the region to reach underserved segments as well as new markets, such as renewable energy, tourism, the agribusiness, gamers, construction, new mobility solutions, among others.

"By creating this insurtech, we, at Suramericana are striving, with our direct and digital channels, to achieve the highest market share possible in all 9 Latin American countries where we are present. We are fully aware that our users' needs are changing, so we wish to offer them a value proposition that allows us to get closer to them through a more agile, intuitive and simple experience, specially designed for these increasingly digital and hyper-connected users," stated Juana Francisca Llano, Chief Executive Officer  of Suramericana.

With an independent operating model as a sub holding company, together with the support of the SURA brand and a startup-type innovation model, the Company plans to become one of the main players in the Latin American insurtech ecosystem by 2025.

With this initiative, Suramericana intends to reach 2.6 million new customers throughout Latin America, 1.8 million of whom shall be in Colombia. As Juana Francisca indicated, "this foray into the digital market will enable us to move from a 2.8% share in the direct channel segment to more than 10% in the entire region. In the space of just 5 years, we plan to launch 22 voluntary solutions based on a fully digital experience in all of our 9 markets. We also wish to consolidate our position as the fourth largest Latin American insurer in the region, and as one of the prime players in this sector to inspire the support and trust of our clients in the digital world".

In the case of Colombia, Suramericana plans to offer 8 solutions aimed at various segments: on the one hand, it shall continue  developing mobility solutions for cars, motorcycles, bicycles and trips; and on the other hand, it shall be focusing on the Health Care, Corporate and Household segments with solutions such as leasing. This will leverage attributes such as channel diversification, economies of scale, a more standardized client experience and a data-driven approach to digital relevance.

Besides the obvious benefits for the Company's digital transformation, this insurtech will develop new portfolio products based on individual needs and lifestyles.

"With this innovation we wish to democratize insurance, so that any Latin American citizen can access and self-manage their services and products directly from their cell phones, with just one click, according to their needs. This shall help us reach different segments and enable a simple, more gamified interaction that is available at any time of the day," stated Leonardo Martinez, Head of the  Digital Direct Channel Project at Suramericana.

While it is true that the trend within our sector is towards suppressing intermediation and digitalizing all interactions, Seguros SURA - thinking of every one of its users - proposes a phygital experience: a hybrid model in which insurance shall continue to be sold "physically" through a sales advisor, but the user will also be able to take out the policy "digitally" from the insurtech.

The ultimate goal is to continue improving the Company´s portfolio and processes to ensure the best possible experience and service for all its clients, whether they visit a branch office or connect up through our digital channels.

To achieve this, Suramericana has set out to attract suitable talent from across the region in order to rise to this challenge and will also seek experts in areas such as: front and back-end development, data science and architecture, scrum, web and application development, e-commerce and CRM, among others. All of this is based on a "borderless" operating model comprised of hundreds of people from all over Latin America.

With a three-stage structure, the project is estimated to involve  more than 250 people in 5 years, approximately 100 of whom will be located in Colombia. The insurtech will first be operating in Colombia, then Chile and Mexico, and, as part of a third stage, the rest of the Latin American countries where SURA has a presence.

"The insurtech industry is growing by leaps and bounds and Seguros SURA cannot be any exception to this process. With our insurtech we are striving to play a leading role in this ecosystem, accelerating our digital transformation process for the benefit of our users and creating a simple, personalized readily available experience," concluded Leonardo Martínez.

 About Suramericana
With more than 77 years of experience, Suramericana S.A. is a specialized insurance and trend and risk management company. While being a subsidiary of Grupo SURA (which holds an 81.1% stake in its share capital), it also enjoys the backing of the German reinsurance firm, Munich Re (which holds the remaining 18.9% stake). The Company is a multi-solution, multi-channel and multi-segment platform operating in 9 Latin American countries, where it strives to deliver sustainable well-being and competitiveness to each of its 18 million clients, including private individuals and companies, which are attended by nearly 22 thousand employees and 25,000 advisory personnel. The Company is known as  Seguros SURA in Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Panama and the Dominican Republic, and as Asesuisa in El Salvador. Suramericana is the eighth largest insurance company in the region, in terms of written  premiums, and is the fourth largest of Latin American origin.