Pandemic brings new purpose to startups’ work in Zurich Innovation Championship

The fight against the coronavirus hasn’t slowed, and neither has the work by some of the world’s most creative startups to help businesses survive and thrive in uncertain times.

The 23 first-round winners and eight North American finalists in the Zurich Innovation Championship (ZIC) have adapted to the new world of work in the same way as the organizations they intend to serve with their cutting edge products and services. They have implemented remote working, social distancing and other practices aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus. At the same time, their focus is on the mission: deliver innovative products and services that customers will need in a post-crisis world.

“With innovation at the core of our business we always remain committed to keeping the Zurich Innovation Championship running. But this would not be possible without the contributions of the participating startups,” says Stuart Domingos, Group Head of Innovation at Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich). “I am impressed to see how every one of our country round winners and North American finalists are tackling this crisis, not only to protect their customers, but to truly protect the next generation.”

Zurich North America will name two winners from its finalists to join the 23 others that are advancing to the championship’s regional round in June. Judges will then select eight finalists for the global final. In the meantime, the startups are working with local Zurich business units on potential pilot projects. In the midst of this work, they have found challenges not originally envisioned by the ZIC’s organizers that have given a new sense of importance and urgency to their work.

“This pandemic has shown businesses the effects of downtime and raised awareness of business interruption,” said Ori Cohen from Parametrix, a country-round winner in the United Kingdom specializing in parametric insurance products that cover such risks as Internet cloud outages, network crashes and other technology-related exposures for small to medium-sized enterprises. “We believe this could help our business case once our product is out, and has given us extra motivation to advance our ideas and put them into action.”

The crisis has compelled insurance customers to recognize the value of being proactive, according to Shelly Klose, CEO of True Flood Risk, a North American finalist whose software calculates structural elevation of properties to provide insights on flood exposure. “The confluence of COVID-19 coupled with the possibility of other extreme weather events cannot be ignored,” she said. “COVID-19 is changing risk perceptions for many of our clients, who are looking for ways to be more informed and better prepared for catastrophic events.”

In Austria, country round winner Riskine, which provides insurance advisory services, says demand has increased as the crisis has taken hold. “We provide efficient tools that help the relationship between insurers and customers remain stable even in these difficult times,” according to Dr. Ralf Widtmann, CEO of Riskine. Demand is so strong that the company is adding employees to help develop its digital solutions.

Aplanet, a Portugal-based country winner that develops technology to help companies manage social responsibility and sustainability projects, is busy advising customers how they can accomplish their work virtually. They suggest launching donation initiatives online, providing recommendations on adjusting to remote working and how to react if COVID-19 symptoms arise, and using the Aplanet app to understand community members’ needs during the crisis.

Marcos Mammarella (l), COO DeepAgro and Manuel Baruffaldi (r), CEO of DeepAgro

“Our customers have the responsibility of feeding the world, that’s why our products are so important,” said Juan Manuel Baruffaldi from DeepAgro, a country-round winner in Argentina that provides agriculture companies with artificial intelligence software that allows them to selectively apply agrochemicals using a combination of deep learning and machine vision.

The ZIC called for startups to bring their ideas on tackling such big issues as climate change, health care, automation and others that are particularly important to the next generation.

“We are protecting the next generation by helping farmers produce better quality food. And, by reducing the use of agrochemicals, we are positively impacting environmental and human health,” said Mr. Baruffaldi of DeepAgro.

At Parametrix, “our proposition for protecting the next generation is more important than ever,” said Ms. Cohen “Today’s events have shown how much value this creates,” she said of parametric business interruption insurance.

The championship’s winners will be named in late summer, when the eight regional winners will make their final pitches to Zurich’s Executive Committee. Three winners – Gold, Silver and Bronze - will be announced and will receive resources to bring their pilot plans to life for Zurich’s customers.