Travel insurtech MGA Battleface partners with Munich Re

Munich Re’s Roanoke Travel Insurance has partnered with start-up Battleface to launch adventure travel product sales for the MGA in the US.

Battleface specialises in insurance for travel to remote, unstable or dangerous locations. It styles itself as offering travel insurance products and assistance to “modern travellers who don’t fit the outdated travel insurance industry standard of ‘one size fits all’”. 

The Reston, Virginia-based company has an API-driven platform that is supported by a network of 24/7 assistance coordinators, medical providers and field agents who provide emergency claims, medical and travel assistance services globally.

The partnership with Roanoke, a subsidiary of Munich Re Specialty Group North America, enables Battleface to offer its products and services to US residents in the growing market of adventure travel. Battleface will provide a partnership to specialty travel agencies, operators and advisors offering custom-built products for explorers and adventurers.

Schaumburg, Illinois-based Roanoke provides insurance, surety and risk management solutions for trade and transportation.

Battleface was set up in 2017 by Malta-based Tangiers Insurance Services, an insurance intermediary and Lloyd’s coverholder.

Battleface’s website states that its travel insurance plans are written on the paper of Spinnaker Insurance (which is being acquired by insurtech Hippo), while its crisis response membership plans are underwritten by Griffin Underwriting Limited.

Last July, Greenlight Re Innovations, part of Cayman Islands-based reinsurer Greenlight Capital Re, made a strategic investment in Battleface.

In January this year, the MGA closed a seed financing round for an undisclosed amount of capital with backing from investors including Fintech Ventures Fund. 

Battleface is led by Sasha Gainullin, who previously developed global operations for AIG Travel Guard, and managing director Paul Simmonds, whose background as a London underwriter includes leadership roles at Berkley Syndicate, CNA Hardy, Brit and Goshawk.

Munich Re Specialty Insurance uses program administrators and MGA coverholders to write business in the small account commercial segment when it doesn’t have inhouse underwriting capabilities.

Its CEO, Mike Kerner, told this publication in an interview last week that Munich Re Group is firmly committed to the program sector and is looking to grow, with a pipeline of program business that is the strongest it has seen in a decade.