The tie-up could herald similar moves by incumbent carriers that, as more prospective buyers go online in the pandemic’s wake, need to quickly kick-start digital-savvy, direct-to-consumer sales channels, according to Dan McCoach, head of life and health at Celent, a technology research firm.

He called the Bestow-Lemonade agreement a “fantastic example” of the kind of strategic partnership that’s accelerating and made possible by digital platforms. “It’s a very good use case of insurance-as-a-service as an architectural principle.”