Hong Kong's FinTech week has drawn to a close. Our reporter Anne Cheng met with one of the exhibitors offering a fresh take on insurance.

Hong Kong is hosting FinTech week.

With over 250 speakers, 400 exhibitors, and 20,000 guests, the global event offers insight on the latest FinTech trends, solutions, and opportunities.

For Avo Insurance, which set up a booth here, it's also an opportunity to network and partner with potential technology and business partners.

This local startup was founded three years ago as Hong Kong's first virtual general insurance company.

With its target customers aged between 20 to 40 years old, product innovation is a main focus.

On top of the typical travel insurance, products offered include work-from-home coverage and e-wallet coverage, which has been increasingly popular, especially with the government's consumption voucher handouts.

The company also used to offer insurance coverage for shoes at one point.

WINNIE WONG CEO and Executive Director Avo Insurance Company Limited "One major challenge is, of course, the journey and the time required for customers to understand the protection that we're offering, which they're often first of its kind in Hong Kong or even in the world. So they need to understand what the protection is about and how we can help them, because a lot of the products that we develop are unheard of."

She further adds that, as a new brand in this pandemic, there have been obstacles in having more face-to-face contact with potential business partners.

Nevertheless, she says COVID-19 has also brought on more awareness for insurance protection, and customer behavior has been geared towards more online shopping.

Wong says both trends have helped the company's cause, with business growing by multiple folds since it started.

Part of that success is attributed to the company's focus on technology.

ANNE CHENG Hong Kong "This company uses AI technology, specifically optical character recognition, or OCR, to streamline the process of claims. So instead of having to fill in tedious forms, all you need to do is take a photo of your receipt, upload it to your account, and AI will fill it all in for you and process the claim. It's technology like this that's gaining traction in the insurance industry."

Meanwhile, the recent policy address mentioned initiatives in the Greater Bay Area, such as establishing insurance after-sales service centers there to support residents holding Hong Kong policies.

Wong believes having more initiatives there will be helpful for startups.

WINNIE WONG CEO and Executive Director Avo Insurance Company Limited "Hong Kong market is really not big enough. Hong Kong is a good market to start the business, because we have the IP protection. We have the support from government in terms of funding, in terms of POCs, in terms of opportunities for us to pioneer some of the new projects. But then in terms of commercialization opportunities, in terms of scale up, we need a bigger market to justify all these investments."

With Hong Kong recovering and opening up, and with the added growth prospects in the Greater Bay Area, Wong believes there will be many opportunities for future growth. Anne Cheng, CGTN, Hong Kong.