The We Are InsurTech Women Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

This week on the We Are InsurTech Women podcast I had the huge pleasure of speaking with Melanie Hayes, co-founder and COO of KYND.

KYND has grown into a trusted partner for insurers, brokers, and businesses looking to manage cyber exposure proactively. The podcast is full of insights for anyone building in regulated or technical markets - especially if you're trying to make complex things feel simple.

Melanie talks us through:

🔹How Melanie went from leading European marketing at Experian to launching a cyber startup?

🔹 What was the moment that turned KYND from an idea into a real company?

🔹 How tough was that leap to becoming a founder on a personal level?

🔹 What exactly does KYND enable for both insurers and insureds - and why is visibility on both sides so important?

🔹 How does KYND simplify cyber risk?

🔹 What role has funding played in scaling the business - especially with KYND’s growing presence in the US?

Excited to share our latest conversation with Sokhiba Mukhitdinova Founding Member & Principal at InsurTech NY, one of the leading voices driving innovation and investment in the insurance space.

Sokhiba and I discussed-

Only 3% of venture capital goes to female founders. Why? What can we actually do about it?

The systems and support that make a difference

What it’s like reviewing 2,000+ pitches, and the 19 that earned investment and why they stood out.

What makes a pitch stand out in a crowded field

The growing trends of women's health, IVF and Fertility in Insurtech.

The next big thing for women in tech and insurtech

Excited to share this weeks We Are InsurTech Women podcast where we were joined by Charlotte Koep, CEO of Root.

Root has grown considerably since Charlotte joined 4 years ago so it was great to dive into their product and mission further as well as Charlotte track leading up to to joining them.

Tune in to hear-

- What is Roots mission and what impact are they having on the space?

- Roots solid culture- how has this been created and maintained through their growth?

- How working in the Finance and Legal space, gave Charlotte the exposure to the entrepreneurship and start-ups which led her to move into it.

- Root launched in the UK after their success in South Africa- why was the UK the best next region for them?

- 2025 is set to be a huge year for Root -hear what's happening over the coming months.

This week I had the pleasure of being joined by Robin Roberson- President and Co-Founder of Agentech. 

Having previously founded and exited a highly successful Claims technology company, Agentech are poised for success and already having a huge impact on the space with their product and recent raise. 

Hear from Robin- 

-What is Agentechs mission and how have they already been reducing claims costs by 67% 

-What developments are happening with Agentech off the back of their raise 

-What has Robin learned from being a previous founder 

-Robins thoughts on how to prepare when founding a company 

-The best way to hire when you’re starting out and how to build a solid foundation

The We Are InsurTech Women podcast is kicking off this year with Laura Bennett.

Laura was previously Co-Founder and CEO of Embrace Pet Insurance, scaling the company for 14 years to be the leader within the pet insurance space and recently being acquired for $1billlion+ !

Tune in to hear-

- How to build a highly successful InsurTech, find your niche and gap in the market

- The importance of hiring right from the top and ensuring everyone has the same values within a start up

-At what point does it make sense for a founder to exit the company

- Laura's take on the evolution of Pet Insurance

- Insights into the 2025 landscape- we're off to a positive start

Great to speak with Kate Lyons, Life Insurance Innovation manager from Munich Re on this week's We Are InsurTech Women podcast.  

We dive into the life insurance space, the innovation needed within it and the role Kate is playing to solve this.

Link in comments to hear Kate discuss-

-Why life insurance? Kate has worked within the space for the majority of her career so explains the need

-What is the customer problem within Life Insurance? Kate breaks it down into three key areas: awareness, consideration and conversion.

-The role of Innovation Manager means Kate is bringing in different people, companies and tech to collectively solve the problem- hear how she manages this.

-How different is working and looking for a job in your 30s compared to your 40s? Kate dives in to the different thinking around this and how to navigate.

Excited to have welcome dour first MENA based guest to the podcast this week, Mina Sahib.

Mina is has been making huge advancements in the MENA region for Insurance, founding the Women in Insurance Network and founding a consultancy, she's very much at the forefront of innovation in MENA.

• Listen in to hear what's been happening in insurance from an innovation stand point in Dubai and the wider MENA region.
• How W.I.N MENA has scaled at an exponential rate over the last couple of years and is connecting women all over the globe The challenges and opportunities of driving digital transformation in a traditionally siloed industry The benefits of having multiple geographies in your a career

So great to have Hayley Budd, Innovation Class Lead at Apollo ibott 1971, join us on the We Are InsurTech Women podcast this week.

Also great to welcome back Rebekah to this episode, featuring as a host.

Tune in to hear more about Hayley's thoughts on-

- How has taking risks and chances benefited and influenced her career?

- Challenging the traditional view of who can become a Underwriter.

- The Lloyds ICX allowance- hear how it works and the huge benefit it's having

- How to manage a busy and intensive role and the benefit of having a solid network to support

Delighted to have been joined by Olga Collins, CEO of WBN on the WAIW podcast this week. 

Olga and WBN have been making a huge impact on the Insurance space, particularly with diversity, talent and innovation. 

Tune in to hear from Olga..

What is the mission of WBN, and how are they becoming the leading, largest and most connected global network in space? 

What have WBN been doing over the past 2 years since Olga stepped into the role of CEO? 

The issue with talent, attracting, retaining and tackling the aging workforce within Insurance- how are WBN attracting and empowering people at collegiate level but also those later in their career. 

Hear Olgas thoughts on the advancement of diversity and what still needs to be done, within the Insurance space but also outside of it as well. 

Loved having Jil Macdonald, COO of Walnut Insurance join us on this week's We Are InsurTech Women podcast to hear more about her background as well as Walnuts product and the successful year they have had. 

How are Walnut embedding insurance products and solutions with their customers? And what’s their USP? 

They’ve tackled the Canadian market already, what are the growth plans going forwards following a raise earlier this year? 

Jil's background has been an accumulation of being a Geophysicist, AI and scaling tech start-ups which has positioned her well to be Walnuts COO but how was the transition into an InsurTech for her?

How has Walnut built their solid foundation of key players in their team which has set them up for the growth they have gone through? 

Hear Jil's thoughts on joining an early stage company and how finding a product which you are passionate about and invested in can lead to best experience one can have.