Germany's development agency GIZ, on behalf the German government, announced the launch of "InsurTech Egypt" platform initiating “InsurHack”, the first insurance technology hackathon – a design sprint-like event – in Egypt, which tackles challenges that face the insurance industry. According to the Financial Regulatory Authority, the insurance industry is estimated to represent almost 0.91% of Egypt's GDP, and it is considered to be one of the most important drivers of Egyptian economic growth. Despite the economic growth and the high investment rate, the industry is still facing a lot of challenges. From the diversification of its products to the target audience difficulty outreach, and the lack of digital interference. It's the age inevitability that demands integrating technology to create sustainable business solutions to innovatively solve the insurance industry challenges necessary for its growth. InsurHack is InsurTech's first hackathon that aims to gather entrepreneurs, techies, and designers to formulate ten teams to work on developing ten business ideas and solve specific challenges. Through the four-day event, the ten participating teams will work under a challenge framework that is developed by insurance companies to propose expected outcomes and compete over a cash prize worth of EGP 100,000. Under the theme of "Innovating Egypt's insurance sector," the hackathon addresses the insurance sector's main challenges in Egypt that hinder its progress and positions it to be a significant key player in the country's economy. Through an open call that was launched at the beginning of October, InsurHack invites over 100 applicants, including innovative designers, coders, innovators in FinTech, insurance leaders, entrepreneurs, and established startups, to participate in the event. The four-day hackathon designed a curriculum of intensive training and mentorship covering a variety of topics such as; design thinking, agile prototyping, and insurance infrastructure. The training assists the participating teams to ideate and design solutions and startup ideas that can contribute to a more technological insurance sector in Egypt. Closing of the hackathon, the Demo Day will be held at the American University in Cairo, on 1 December, celebrating and showcasing the ten teams' projects and displaying the progress they experience over the hackathon duration. Three winning teams will champion the hackathon receiving a cash prize worth of EGP 100,000. The teams will also receive additional benefits, such as a visit to Germany, a physical space for two months, fast selection to AUC Venture Lab boot camp, and proof of concepts.
