Insurance takes to the stage at London Tech Week 2025
Awaken the Sleeping Giant
The tech crowd doesn’t usually get excited about insurance. But maybe it should.
At London Tech Week 2025, I had the joy of moderating a panel on a topic that’s rarely discussed at these kinds of events—but absolutely should be: the role of insurance in the global green transition. I was joined by three heavyweight thinkers who are pushing the boundaries of what our industry can do: Rowan Douglas CBE, CEO Climate Risk & Resilience at Howden, Amy Barnes Head of Climate and Sustainability Strategy & Global Head of Energy & Power at Marsh and Natalia Dorfman, CEO at Kita.
And together, we set out to wake the “sleeping giant” that is insurance.
Why Insurance Belongs at London Tech Week 2025
“We’ve always been here—you just never noticed.”
—Rowan Douglas, Howden
That line from Rowan stayed with me. Insurance may not be glamorous, but it’s foundational. It’s the risk framework underneath every industrial revolution—from boilers and factories to today’s green hydrogen plants and climate AI.
This year’s Tech Week, buzzing with breakthroughs from sustainable mining to photonic AI, provided the perfect moment to make this case:
Innovation doesn’t scale without insurance.
Resilience Is the New Frontier
“Resilience isn’t just about flood defences. It’s about people, productivity, and the climate shocks that are already here.”
—Amy Barnes, Marsh
Amy made it clear: while mitigation and transition get the headlines, resilience needs a starring role. She spoke of forklift drivers crashing in extreme heat and blue-collar workers arriving dehydrated and underslept. The future of infrastructure isn’t just about carbon—it’s about surviving a planet that’s already changing.
Insurance, when it works well, does more than repair damage. It helps people and systems adapt—whether that’s protecting smallholder farmers in Kenya through $8 micro-premiums or climate-proofing a £1bn solar farm in Spain.
From Sexy to Safe: What Startups Get Wrong
“The instinct is to lead with how innovative you are. But in insurance, you want to be seen as safe, not sexy.”
—Amy Barnes, Marsh
This insight hit home for me as someone who works daily with early-stage founders.
There’s a temptation in startup land to pitch yourself as radical, unproven, dazzling. But as Amy pointed out, that’s rarely helpful when trying to bring insurers on board. Reframing innovation as recombinant—a new mix of tried-and-true components, like Uber combining existing GPS and payment technology with taxis—makes your risk profile legible to underwriters. It builds trust.
So, founders: don’t hide the “boring bits”. Celebrate them.
Insurance Unlocks Capital
“That green steel project in Scandinavia? Wouldn’t have happened without credit insurance. Insurance made it bankable.”
—Amy Barnes, Marsh
This is where insurance quietly becomes catalytic. When investors hesitate, insurance often becomes the bridge.
Natalia Dorfman, CEO of Kita, emphasizes the critical role of insurance in the carbon markets:
“Insurance is a crucial but often overlooked partner… unlocking, promoting, and facilitating the transition to net zero.”
—Natalia Dorfman, Kita
By co-developing risk frameworks from scratch, Kita enables coverage for “forward-looking” carbon credits—de-risking the sector for buyers and investors alike.
It’s a prime example of how insurance can accelerate frontier markets—not just protect them.
From Farmers to Finance: The Micro to Macro Story
“Nespresso is one of our most famous clients. We built microinsurance for their farmers—$8 premiums to protect their next crop.”
—Amy Barnes, Marsh
This anecdote, dropped casually, was profound. A global coffee brand using parametric insurance to support climate-vulnerable farmers. This is where climate resilience becomes tangible. Where innovation meets real lives.
From smallholder protection to steel megaprojects, the message was clear:
Insurance is the silent enabler of climate progress.
How Can Founders Engage?
I asked the panel what early-stage climate tech founders can actually do to become insurance-ready. Here’s what they said:
- Frame risk in familiar terms. Compare your solution to existing models—don’t get lost in novelty.
- Engage early. Don’t wait until Series A to start building insurer relationships.
- Design for resilience. Show that you’ve considered operational risks over a 20-30 year time horizon.
- Ask for help. This is where platforms like Insurtech Gateway come in—we help you shape the right story, find the right partners, and unlock capacity.
As Rowan said, “This isn’t just a discussion for the insurance halls anymore. This is about shaping the future economy.”
Final Thoughts: This Is Only the Beginning
If I had one takeaway from the session, it’s this: the role of insurance in climate innovation is vastly underestimated. But that’s changing. Slowly, surely, the sleeping giant is waking up—and it wants to collaborate.
At Insurtech Gateway, we’re proud to be the launchpad for this new wave of founders. If you’re building solutions for the green transition—whether it’s infrastructure, resilience, carbon, or climate AI—let’s talk.
Because the next industrial revolution won’t happen to insurance. It will happen with insurance.