Tanner De Witt advised Bowtie Life Insurance Company on its series A investment round. This is the first successful application under the Insurance Authority’s recently introduced fast track process for insurers seeking to operate solely through digital channels. In its series A round, Bowtie raised $30 million from Sun Life Hong Kong, one of the leading international financial services organisations. Shareholders of Bowtie includes the Hong Kong X Technology Fund and angel investors.

As the first fully-licensed virtual insurance company in Hong Kong, Bowtie can now offer insurance protection to customers directly without any insurance intermediaries. It will be announced on 20 December 2018.

The team is led by Pádraig Walsh, who advises on commercial and transactions in the technology sector. He said: “I have known Michael Chan and Fred Ngan, the founders of Bowtie, for some years now. They have been at the vanguard of insurtech innovation in Hong Kong. This transaction and regulatory approval is an endorsement of their vision, and gives real hope for developing a mature insurtech ecosystem in Hong Kong. It is a real milestone. I am delighted to have been able to support Michael and Fred, and I wish them every success as they lead Bowtie to trailblaze more in the insurance industry.”

The firm was ranked in 5 practice areas in the latest edition of asialaw Profiles.