Bowtie

Bowtie is a direct-to-consumer virtual insurance carrier headquartered in Hong Kong, licensed to offer life and health insurance products entirely online. Founded in 2017 by actuaries Fred Ngan and Michael Chan, the company received Hong Kong's first virtual insurance licence from the Insurance Authority in December 2018 under the Fast Track pilot scheme. Bowtie offers pure protection products -- including Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme (VHIS) medical plans, critical illness, cancer, term life, and accident coverage -- with no agent commissions and no savings components. As of mid-2025, the company serves over 140,000 individual policyholders and 500+ SME group medical clients, holding approximately 32% market share in Hong Kong's online distribution channel.

The company operates a fully digital platform for applications, underwriting, policy management, and claims submission. Automated underwriting handles standard cases online, with document upload and real-time claims tracking available around the clock. Bowtie has processed over 150,000 claims with a 98.3%-99.53% approval rate and a median claims processing time of six working days. The platform integrates AWS cloud infrastructure, WhatsApp Business API via SleekFlow for customer and SME communications, and internal AI projects spanning claims processing algorithms and agentic AI applications. The Series C funding round, completed in July 2025, earmarks capital specifically for agentic artificial intelligence and health innovation.

Bowtie's Annual Recurring Revenue exceeded USD 80 million as of May 2025, with projections above USD 100 million by end of 2025. The company has provided over HKD 150 billion (approximately USD 19 billion) in total protection to Hong Kong families. Total funding exceeds HKD 1 billion, raised across four rounds from Sun Life Financial Hong Kong and Mitsui & Co. The company ranked number one among Hong Kong companies on the Financial Times High-Growth Companies Asia-Pacific list in both 2025 and 2026.