As winner of the Red Herring’s Top 100 Europe award Sheffield’s The Floow is leading the way. The company provides telematics services to insurers and vehicle manufacturers. If someone has installed a data collection device in his car or engaged with an app to lower his premiums over the past few years, there’s a strong possibility The Floow has something to do with the ‘scores’ he receives.

The Floow’s approach to software and analytics has helped to take the insurance telematics market mainstream. It’s all about better informed insurers and better informed, safer drivers. As well as sending information to the insurer about the driving behavior of the customer, the company offers advice that helps the driver make better choices in the future, economically, environmentally, and from a safety perspective.

The origins of The Floow are firmly rooted in scientific academic research, computer science, Big Data and statistical analysis, driver psychology and actuarial science. The University of Sheffield is a significant minority shareholder and a source of human capital. The Floow works with major insurers around the world, including Direct Line Group and AIG. It also deals directly with car companies like Renault and Nissan.

4 significant benefits:
Floow’s corporate vision has the goal of making the world a safer, greener environment. Their technology and solutions generate significant benefits for society at large, such as:

• Fairer premiums for responsible drivers

The Floow’s highly granular, large-scale geo-data collection, analysis and integration methodologies enable a step-change in the way motor insurance is priced, giving an appropriate weighting to fundamental risk factors such as driver behavior, speed in context of location and circumstances. This enables reducing premiums for responsible drivers who are willing to be monitored. And can potentially reduce the number of uninsured drivers. In the UK 1 car in 20 is either uninsured or not adequately insured according to the Motor Insurance Bureau.

•  Influencing risky behavior through tailored feedback and education

Telematic services provide specific safety and insurance improvements: the Co-operative Insurance in the UK looked at 10,000 telematics insurance customers, aged between 17 and 25, discovering that:

• This group were 20% less likely to be involved in a crash than those with a standard policy
• Drivers who opt for a telematics based car insurance policy have less serious accidents and insurance claims from customers with a box fitted are typically 30% less than those without

The Floow monitors and quantifies risky driving behavior and uses this data to power tailored educational services that provide means for a driver to monitor and improve their personal driving performance. This not only helps private drivers, but also corporate drivers and their employers, who are bound to compliance with duty of care and corporate manslaughter legislation.

• Mitigating consequences of crashes

Car crashes are a major cause of death. In terms of safety, accident physiologists indicate that timely intervention after a crash is critical to increase chances of survival and recovery. The Floow contributes an integrated service for automatic and/or voluntary crash notifications to selected emergency providers and, when possible, provides real-time information of an unfolding rescue process.

• Better understanding of accident causation, hence better prevention

The Floow’s ability to collate data on a wide range of factors (including speed in relation to type of road, time of day, congestion, weather, acceleration and deceleration etc.) and apply regression against actual claims allows for a richer understanding of accident causation, which can be used to further prevention. On a more general basis, the data collected by the systems are used to identify locations with abnormal and recurring behavioral patterns, identifying possible inadequacy of road infrastructure.

Why we selected the Floow for DIA Amsterdam
The Floow is transforming a staid market with a fresh approach on the belief the provision of telematics insight to insurers will transform the traditional “transactional model” to a “relationship and service led model.”

Who are the Floow
The Floow was co-founded by Aldo Monteforte in 2012, and being based in Sheffield was no accident. The insurance industry is based in London, Singapore and New York, but serial entrepreneur Monteforte was convinced the South Yorkshire city was an ideal home. Cost of living, quality of life and a pipeline of local graduates with the right skills were strong deciding factors. In the five years since it was founded, the company headcount has grown from three to 70. It’s on track to reach 100 this year.

The Floow has raised $16.6 million equity investment led by Fosun, a leading Chinese investment group, to accelerate its global growth, the company announced on March 7. Others who joined the round include United Electronics Co Ltd, a Chinese IT solution and service provider, and Direct Line Group, UK’s personal motor and home insurer. The investors will receive a minority interest in the Floow.

Aldo Monteforte, CEO and Co-Founder of The Floow

Website: www.thefloow.com

Presenter: Presenter: Aldo Monteforte
Contact Info: Ashlea McConnell
Email: [email protected]