How Sydney Startup, Upcover, is contributing to the global insurtech market movement by providing insurance for the gig economy

• Upcover offers pay-as-you-go insurance, tailor made for independent and self-employed workforce starting with delivery  work, covering trips, slips and injuries to you while you work, as well as protecting your equipment or bike while you’re at home, at work or in between.The online platform offers flexible, smart and paperless solutions for independent workforce, often termed the gig economy.
• Skye Theodorou’s (Co-founder, and CEO) background in risk, regulation, insurance and compliance for small businesses at NSW Government and at Zurich Insurance. 
• Anish Sinha, (Co-Founder and COO) has extensive skills in commercialising, operationalising a tech-driven business at Goldman Sachs and Sequioa backed, nearbuy.com, as Head of Business.

Origin – 

upcover, an online platform that provides protection and benefits for contract and freelance workers, founded by Skye Theodorou and Anish Sinha, is carving and defining a niche market for the gig economy and the future of work. 

Theodorou has had an extensive career in insurance, with her most recent position being a Project Manager for Zurich Financial Services. Her experience in the industry led her to identify this gap in the market and the idea of the insurtech concept. 

Skye was given the opportunity to pitch her idea to the panel at Antler’s Demo Day in 2019. Upcover was one of twelve businesses selected to participate in Antler’s accelerator program, from over 1,500 applications. 

During the program, Skye met her co-founder, Anish, who is now Chief Operations Officer for Upcover. Anish drives the business model with his exceptional experience commercialising, operationalising the tech-driven business model. 

Since its inception, upcover and Black Nova Group have partnered, working together to build a platform that provides the gig economy with a flexible, easily accessible pay-as-you-go insurance. 

Black Nova Group’s digital arm, Experience Digital, has since taken on the task of providing end-to-end development and implementation services to build out Upcover’s product, preparing for the launch targeted at mid-2020. The intention is to provide smart, flexible and paperless products and services to the self-employed and independent workforce , accessible via their proprietary technology, pricing platform and mobile application. 

About the Platform – 

With over one million contractors working through platforms like Uber, UberEATS, Deliveroo & Ola, upcover provides bite sized, affordable protection and benefits products to help them build their own safety net. This provides cover f on-the-go and at competitive prices.

The platform offers the opportunity to select the work based on your selection and expected of the insurance, with a personalised quote returned within minutes. Once you have approved and paid your cover, you will be insured and ready to work automatically, and can cancel any time. 

The upcover platform is disrupting the market – by tapping into the market as a ‘new-age insurance company’, it is leaving the overpaid,  annualised, paper based forms policies in the past, where they belong. 

The team has secured its insurance partnership with Australian Underwriting Agency, Agile Underwriting Services, which is backed by Lloyd’s of London, the oldest insurance company in the world. who will be issuing insurance products associated with upcover. If you are interested in being one of the first to find out about the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS), sign up here.
I’ve been looking for cover for my bike and myself while I do deliveries but there is nothing out there. I’m excited by upcover and what they are doing. 

What Next? 

By year end of 2020, upcover will be capable of providing their products to cleaners, taskers, care-based workers and nannies. Upcover’s products are on-the-road and in real-time. The team is working tirelessly in providing these products directly to their customers, and working with partners that support the gig economy by utilising this workforce. 

Workers will have the capability to get bite sized, affordable protection, and of accessing instant quotes and subscription-based insurances in real-time, with no fuss – all on their mobile device.

With the global insurtech market expected to grow 41% annually between 2019 and 2023, Black Nova Group are excited to see what upcover will do to help protect the underserved markets of this fast growing independent workforce.

Black Nova Group

Black Nova exists to empower the next generation of iconic startups. We inject capital and services into your business to help you scale. We operate in Australia and Europe, and are united by one goal; supporting great founders with ambitious dreams to achieve their potential. Contact us now, if you are interested in launching your dream alongside Black Nova Group.