There’s an undeniable energy that fills the room when the global insurance ecosystem collides with early-stage innovation. That energy found a fitting home inside the immersive, high-tech walls of Dublin’s Sandbox VR when Guidewire’s InsurPitch competition returned to the Irish capital.
Following a welcome from Guidewire Chief Evangelist Laura Drabik, five visionary insurtech startups took the stage, each handed a strict five-minute window to pitch their technology to an exclusive audience of P&C industry leaders and carriers. The goal? Redefine what’s possible across the P&C insurance lifecycle.
For the first time in InsurPitch history, the judges decided to crown joint winners. They are start-ups tackling completely different, yet equally vital, frontiers of the modern insurance market.
Congratulations to our dual Grand Prize winners: Wallet Studio and Kayna!
Wallet Studio by Miss Moneypenny: Putting Insurance in the Palm of Your Hand
In an era where customers manage their flights, concert tickets, and payment cards from a centralised mobile dashboard, traditional paper insurance cards or buried PDF attachments feel outdated. Wallet Studio, created by Miss Moneypenny Technologies, is changing that. Their enterprise-ready, no-code SaaS platform allows insurers to effortlessly launch dynamic, secure insurance cards and IDs natively within Apple Wallet and Google Wallet. By turning the digital wallet into a primary engagement hub, carriers can push real-time policy updates, localised alerts, and interactive claims links directly to a policyholder's home screen. It's a significant leap forward in transforming boring transactional touchpoints into "sticky," high-value customer connections.
Kayna: Targeting the SME Protection Gap via Vertical SaaS
While traditional commercial insurance distribution relies heavily on manual forms and brokers, Kayna looks at the data small businesses are already using daily. Kayna acts as the orchestration infrastructure that bridges vertical Software-as-a-Service (VSaaS) platforms—the specific software built for restaurants, construction firms, or independent contractors—directly with insurance providers. By ingesting real-time operational and financial data straight from these platforms, Kayna can automatically flag coverage gaps and offer tailored, bindable commercial insurance natively in the user's workflow. It aims to eliminate audit risks, simplifies form-filling, and opens up entirely untapped revenue streams for carriers.
The Power of the Vanguard Ecosystem
Events like InsurPitch Dublin underscore exactly why the Guidewire Insurtech Vanguards program exists. The P&C industry is navigating complex, fast-moving imperatives, from fighting litigation abuse to capitalising on agentic AI workflows. Carriers don’t just need a list of startups; they need a curated, vetted path to innovation.
By scouting the hottest early-stage talent and bringing them face-to-face with the carrier community, we are accelerating the journey from a pitch on a stage to a live integration in the Guidewire Marketplace ecosystem.
A massive thank you to our co-sponsor, PwC, to our five incredible finalists who stepped up to the microphone, the judging panel, and to everyone in the Dublin insurance community who came out to network and debate.
Want to learn more about how our Insurtech Vanguards are expanding embedded distribution, automating complex workflows, and redefining customer trust? Explore the full roster of innovators on the Guidewire Insurtech Vanguards webpage.