HDFC Lifes Futurance Program Enters Phase Two

• The first phase saw the short-listing of 8 start-ups from over 100 participants
• The second phase launched to scout for start-ups across 4 use cases

Mumbai, December 4, 2019: HDFC Life, one of Indias leading private life insurance companies has been at the forefront when it comes to technology. In June 2019, HDFC Life tied-up with IvyCamp to launch an initiative called Futurance. It is a corporate engagement program that aims to identify and onboard innovative startups that can co-create targeted solutions and build next-gen capabilities for HDFC Life.

Post the successful conclusion of Phase 1, HDFC Life and IvyCamp have now announced the opening of the second phase of the Futurance program to scout for startups to deliver innovations across the following use cases:

1. MedTech: Non-invasive health monitoring and diagnostic solutions for assessing current and predicting future medical conditions
2. Behavioral Sciences: Behavioral science tools & techniques for higher employee and customer engagement
3. Sales Engagement: Sales engagement and mentoring to contain attrition of front line sales staff
4. Alternative Data Sources: Syndicated alternate data sources and uses

Speaking on the launch of the second phase, Parvez Mulla, Chief Operating Officer – HDFC Life, said “At HDFC Life, we are re-imagining the life insurance business using disruptive technology. Futurance is an initiative where we explore the startup space for promising talent. The successful implementation of the first phase of Futurance has encouraged us to launch the second phase. We look forward to meet and interact with a fresh talent for co-creating solutions that spell convenience for customers and improve our efficiencies.”

Prasun Gajri, Chief Investment Officer – HDFC Life added, “To keep pace with the changes is imperative for success. It is necessary to explore fresh talent and collaborate with them. Startups can play the role of catalysts in this area. We have reaped the results of our investments in technology and this inspires us to constantly look for avenues which will benefit us over the long term. We believe Futurance is one such initiative that will invigorate our tech journey and enable us to achieve what we have set out for.”

“This partnership is in line with IvyCamps ongoing efforts to create deeper connects, alliances and co-development opportunities between corporates and startups for mutual business benefits,” said Anju Gupta, Co-founder and President of IvyCamp. “We congratulate the startups considered in the first phase, which will get an opportunity to scale their business and work with senior leadership at HDFC Life, that will get them greater customer engagement and product expertise in their respective domains. We trust our second phase of Futurance will be bolstered by our previous success”.

In phase 1, Futurance successfully identified startups from over one hundred targeted applications. The startups are working on solutions for intelligent hiring, building speech recognition for leading Indian languages, speech to text solutions, identity verification and onboarding solutions and anti-money laundering compliance automation platform for enterprises.