01Insurance innovation consortium
Making an innovation consortium useful to startups.
- Role
- Founding employee · Just over one year
- Attribution
- Selected experience from Ben Shaw’s previous roles and ventures. Client organisations are unnamed.
Shared programme~15global insurers
Feedback20+venture capital firms
At the centreStartups3 programmes
Support60+mentors & experts
Participating companies10 → 40
The challenge
The challenge
A consortium of around 15 global insurers wanted to help startups build stronger businesses. The challenge was to turn a shared interest in innovation into practical support for founders.
The work
What was done
- Led three startup programmes as a founding employee.
- Introduced a structured way for startups to test assumptions and reduce risk.
- Added rigorous pitch training.
- Brought more than 20 venture capital firms in to give startups feedback.
- Built a network of more than 60 experienced entrepreneurs and industry experts as mentors.
- Brought the first international insurer into the programme and established a joint venture for a health programme.
Outcomes
What came of it
- Participation grew from 10 to 40 companies across three programmes.
- The mentor network remains in use today.
- The first international insurer joined the programme.
- A joint venture was established for a health programme.
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