Aviva is extending its partnership with venture studio and accelerator Founders Factory, committing further investment over the next three years to startups working across insurance, wealth, property, asset management and cybersecurity.

The partnership began in 2016 and has supported more than 60 startups, which have collectively raised more than £500m in investment, according to Aviva. The new programme will focus on AI and other emerging technologies, with the aim of developing products and services across financial services and related markets.

Several of the startups already backed through the partnership have direct applications in insurance. These include Marrow, which connects AI agents such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini with insurers’ pricing, underwriting and policy administration systems, and Xapien, an AI-powered due diligence platform.

Arslan Hannani (pictured), chief innovation officer at Aviva, said: “Aviva’s long-standing partnership with Founders Factory is supporting new businesses to help customers and business manage and protect their money, health and family. Partnerships like ours show the power of innovation – they can boost UK investment and support economic growth, helping the UK get ready for the future.”

Henry Lane Fox, CEO of Founders Factory, added: “Aviva’s decade-long commitment is one of the longest-standing corporate venture studio partnerships in the UK. The companies that have spun out of the studio are now achieving meaningful impact and scale in their respective markets – evidence of what a large financial services business can create when it chooses to keep building and back the next generation of founders.”