The Co-operators taps into innovative partnership with Slice Labs to create solutions that address unmet insurance needs in the fast-evolving digital economy.

GUELPH, ON, July 18, 2018 /CNW/ - The Co-operators, together with award-winning insurtech business partner Slice Labs Inc. (Slice), announced today that they have signed an exclusive agreement to leverage the Slice Insurance Cloud Services™ (ICS) platform to launch The Co-operators new digital insurance brand in Canada.

In an exclusive arrangement with Slice ICS, The Co-operators will create new insurance products to meet growing customer needs for easy, on-demand insurance solutions that satisfy emerging digital economies. Launching later this summer under the brand name duuo by Co-operators^TM the first product will provide pay-per-use homeshare insurance underwritten by Co-operators General Insurance Company, for hosts using home sharing platforms like Airbnb^®, HomeAway^® and VRBO^®. The duuo by Co-operators^TM brand reflects The Co-operators commitment to working together with clients to provide peace of mind in a way that is easy, fast, fair and affordable – a commitment made possible through the Slice platform.

"We were founded in 1945 by a small group of farmers and social pioneers who found that their needs were not met by traditional insurance offerings, so they found a new way of protecting their financial security in a time of need," said Rob Wesseling, President and CEO of The Co-operators Group Limited. "Our new business partnership with Slice is the 21^st century version of this mindset, it will allow us to meet the underserved insurance needs of Canadians participating in a highly innovative digital economy. Our shared vision of ensuring that everyone can be protected with the most intelligent and customized insurance possible makes this partnership very exciting."

The Co-operators selected Slice as its insurtech solutions provider because of the ability to develop customized digital insurance products with exceptional customer experiences. Through this partnership Slice will provide The Co-operators with an agile, flexible platform using artificial intelligence and analytics capabilities to create non-traditional on-demand insurance products for customers.

"Consumer expectations continue to evolve in Canada alongside rapid technology advancement," said Tim Attia, CEO, Slice Labs Inc. "Our business partnership has the potential to continue to foster change in Canadian lives on the scale of what The Co-operators first achieved over 70 years ago, but at a faster rate due to Slice's technology, which is also proudly developed by Canadians in Ottawa."

Slice ICS is fully embeddable via API and includes pricing, rating, licensing, real-time and automated underwriting, servicing, and capacity. ICS makes it easy to quickly integrate, deploy and test insurance products that offer deeper customer engagement through advanced cloud technology. ICS helps insurers build new on-demand insurance products and services without having to invest in costly IT infrastructure upgrades in order to become a digital insurer. ICS delivers through a low cost monthly subscription without complex contracts or implementation costs.

About The Co-operators Group:
The Co-operators is a Canadian insurance and financial services co-operative with more than $41 billion in assets under administration. Through its group of companies, it offers home, auto, life, group, travel, commercial and farm insurance, as well as investment products. The Co-operators is well known for its community involvement and its commitment to sustainability. The Co-operators is listed among the Best Employers in Canada by Aon Hewitt and Corporate Knights' Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada. For more information, visit www.cooperators.ca.

About Slice:
Slice Labs positions the gig economy for opportunity, prosperity, and sustainability with the first on-demand insurance product launched in the United States.  Slice Insurance Cloud Services (ICS) enables large insurers to deliver new value to loyal consumers through direct insurance or insurance agent models without the need to invest in the infrastructure to deliver customized on-demand insurance products. Slice on-demand insurance and ICS solutions are supported by advanced big data and machine learning technologies along with Ph.D. behavioral science expertise, and over 100 years of combined insurtech experience on the Slice leadership team. Slice operates in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. To stay up to date with Slice, visit http://www.slice.is and follow @SliceLabs on Twitter.

SOURCE The Co-operators