LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Telefónica’s innovation arm Wayra UK and innogy Innovation Hub, an affiliate of German energy company innogy SE that invests in and mentors technology start-ups, will grow innovative businesses in the UK in a new London-based programme.
“Scale-Up Hub” will focus on growing small and medium sized businesses in areas such as future energy, urban solutions, customer experience and connected technologies. It represents a significant international investment in the UK’s rich ecosystem of technology and digital innovation which will create jobs and growth through the development of new market leaders in emerging technologies.
With the rising new breed of consumers moving from ownership to usership, the global car park is predicted to shift from personal cars on driveways to fleets aiming for maximum utilisation, meaning multiple drivers for the same car.
Mark Musson, Founder of HUMN.ai, said: “This needs a totally different response from the insurance market, who will increasingly be dealing with the commercial fleet operators. This revolution has started with the ride-hailing age where drivers can earn a basic living without needing to own their car, but it does mean the current insurance model is not fit for purpose and that’s where our by-the-second risk based pricing comes in.”
The technological entrepreneurs see their job as to help the insurance market better serve the winners of this new marketplace which they identify as the commercial fleet operators. And to do that they need fairer insurance policies that are based on real-time use and time, location, conditions and driver behaviour. And this has been made possible by the combination of streaming big data, machine learning, AI and the IoT all automated through smart contracts that are totally transparent.
Annemie Ress, Managing Director for innogy Innovation Hub in the UK, said: “At the innogy Innovation Hub we look to support businesses and technologies from across the world with the potential to shape the energy market of the future. The UK is obviously a key market for our portfolio of start-ups and we are excited to partner with Wayra to give them the mentoring and networking opportunities that will help them reach their full commercial potential in the UK and beyond.”
Director of Telefónica Open Future and Wayra UK Gary Stewart said: “At Wayra, we scale start-ups. Partnering with innogy Innovation Hub is, therefore, a great fit for us, because this programme is focused on helping more mature start-ups to scale via Telefónica and innogy. I can’t wait to begin.”
The innogy Innovation Hub has created a €150m portfolio through investing in disruptive individuals, start-ups and early stage businesses and provided opportunities for 80+ start-up and scale-up companies to collaborate. It has innovation teams in Silicon Valley, Tel Aviv, London and Berlin. The innogy Innovation Hub is funded by innogy SE, a leading German energy company, with revenues of around €43 billion (2017), more than 42,000 employees and activities in 16 countries. For more information visit: https://innovationhub.innogy.com
As the venture arm of Telefónica, Wayra is tasked with scaling start-ups. Its ‘best in class’ accelerator programme currently supports around 70 companies a year in six other locations, providing advice and mentorship to take ideas through to investment. Over the last seven years Wayra UK’s has invested and supported 180 companies and helped to raise over $237 million in third-party funding for companies currently valued at $835 million. For more information visit: https://www.wayra.co.uk
HUMN.ai is building a new type of insurance for the future mobility market and has developed a real-time risk pricing engine for intensively utilised fleets such as those leasing cars to rideshare drivers. For more information visit: https://www.humn.ai
