This interview is part of our new Blockchain In Insurance series, where we interview the world's leading thought leaders on the front lines of the intersections between blockchain and insurance.

In this interview we speak with Massimo Ciaglia, Founder of Poleecy, to understand how his company is using blockchain to transform the insurance business, and what the future of the industry holds.

1. What’s the story behind Poleecy? Why and how did you begin?

MC: Poleecy is a startup that operates in the field of instant insurance. It was born from the meeting between Elio Mungo and I. Moreover, Poleecy has established an important strategic collaboration with European Insurance Brokers, one of the most important and innovative insurance brokers on the market. Poleecy's goal is to guarantee customers the possibility of take out an insurance policy wherever they are using the digital channel, thus providing an immediate response to the need for customer security. Poleecy wants to offer a service that is the policy that reaches the customer when it is necessary and not the opposite as it is now.

2. Please describe your use case and how Poleecy uses blockchain:

MC: The  signing  of  the  micro  policy  contract  is  ensured  by  means  of  asymmetric digital keys certified by a Certification Authority (CA) and,  whose  hash is stored on a block-chain. The company has decided to use  Hyperledger technology, more specifically, Hyperledger Fabric. Hyperledger  Fabric uses the technology of the containers to host smart contracts called   “chaincodes” that include the logic of the system application. Before leaving, it is a question that many people ask themselves: “Will we need insurance?” In case you could no longer leave, or if there was a problem with the car you booked, or if we still need a hospital. For these micro insurances you can download Poleecy app, which offers you different estimates. A person who goes on holiday with an airplane is insured when a smart contract is signed by mobile app. For example, if you lose a flight, blockchain technology checks the time and the delay through a specific system and provides for the automatic refund.

3. Could you share a specific customer/user that benefits from what you offer? What has your service done for them?

MC: Poleecy is  positioned  in  the  Insurtech  market  of  micro  insurance  policies,  starting  from Italy,  then  the  U.K.,  the  rest  of  Europe  and  the  world  later. Poleecy has paid  particular  attention  to  South  America,  where  there  is  a  strong  need  for  micro  insurance solutions,  as  there  is  no  long term policy culture, due  to  their  high cost.  The  same applies  to   emerging  countries such as African countries. Bima is a prime  example, having  acquired over 23 million users in a very short time with its policies in the healthcare world and positioning itself as a leading company in African  countries. Furthermore, generation Y and millennials are becoming more and more active consumers. Poleecy intends to launch themselves on the  insurance  policies  sales  brokering  market,   in  order  to  fill  the  gap  of  the  instant  insurance  policies,  that  is,  those  policies  that,  unlike   most  of  the  others,  cover  the  needs  for  immediate  insurance  coverage  with  limited  time   duration  and  extremely  low  costs.

4. What other blockchain insurance use cases are you excited about?

MC: The Fabric platform is  also  authorised,  which  means  that  is  way  more  different from a public network without authorisation. In Fabric the  participants know each other rather  than  being  anonymous  and  fallacious.  This  means  that  while  participants  may  not  fully   trust  each  other  (they  might,  for  example,  be  competitors  in  the  same  industry),  a  network   can  be  managed  according  to  a  governance  model  that  is  based  on  whatever  trust  exists between participants,  such  as  an  agreement  or  legal  framework for dispute  management. One of the most important platform differentiators is the support  for  connectable consent  protocols  that  allow  the  customisation  of  the  platform  more  effectively,  to adapt to particular  uses  and  trust  models.

For example,  when  deployed within a single company or managed by a  trusted  authority,  fully  tolerant consent to Byzantine failure could be  considered unnecessary and excessive dragging on performance and   throughput. In situations such as that, a CFT consent protocol may  be  more  than adequate,  whereas  in  a  case  of  decentralised  and  multiparty  use,  a  more   traditional  BTP  (fault  tolerant) consent protocol may be required.

5. Where will Poleecy be in five years?

MC: In  the  future, the company will become leader in microinsurance and become an insurance company specialized in micro insurance using the app through blockchain platform.