HSBC leads $6.85m funding for Hong Kong-based blockchain insurance startup

Blockchain insurance startup MediConCen raised $6.85 million in funding led by HSBC to improve the sector by ‘simplifying and speeding up the claims journey.’

In a blog announcement, the Hong Kong-headquartered startup said other investors, including G&M Capital, ParticleX, and new investor Wings Capital Ventures, have also participated in the funding.

With the latest cash inflow, MediConCen raised a total of $12.7 million, planning to put the proceeds to accelerate its growth in the international market, including the Middle East and Southeast Asia. MediConCen head William Yeung says the startup is changing the paper-based and human-based claim process to a “digital- and AI-assisted [artificial intelligence] journey, utilizing the latest AI and blockchain technology.”

Kara Byun, head of fintech at HSBC Asset Management, said the funding is expected to simplify and speed up the claims process, including “ensuring that the claim amount is fair, with a technology backbone that supports the scaling up of these benefits.”

Established in 2018 as an incubatee at Cyberport, a Hong Kong government-backed high-tech industrial park, MediConCen serves over 16 insurers and more than 1 million insured individuals. The company’s cashless claim platform boasts participation from over 1,200 medical providers.

For HSBC, this investment underscores its commitment to digitization in Hong Kong, as Luanne Lim, CEO of HSBC Hong Kong, previously outlined the bank’s plans to explore tokenization of financial instruments and central bank digital currencies pilots in the region, aiming to bring efficiency, transparency, and cost reduction to traditional finance.

HSBC has been actively engaged in financial experimentation in Hong Kong, allowing clients to trade Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) futures through its investment platform in June 2023. Additionally, in November 2023, HSBC partnered with a Ripple-owned firm for a blockchain initiative targeting institutional clients interested in real-world assets hosted on-chain.