US asset management firm RiverStone has chosen Northern Ireland for a £2.5m research and development (R&D) project involving its UK subsidiary.
It is anticipated new re-insurance platform Orbit could secure over £3m additional growth for the company by 2029.
RS Progress is an IT service provider and RiverStone subsidiary specialising in run-off insurance, a growing market worth around $90bn globally.
Run-off insurance is professional indemnity insurance cover for the past liabilities of a business once it has stopped trading.
RS Progress set up in Belfast in 2021 and currently employs 26 staff. Its latest project is being supported by economic development agency Invest NI.
Graham Reid, site director at RS Progress, said: “Investment in technology and innovation is central to the continued growth and future profitability of RiverStone.
“This investment reflects the confidence and value proposition of our phenomenal talent in the Belfast operation which has become a centre of R&D, application modernisation and AI expertise.
“This, alongside the support from Invest NI, was instrumental in choosing Northern Ireland to make this investment.
“Our new platform will offer commercial advantages by carrying out the complete processing required for assumed claims handling, while it will also be engineered as a new product for sale into the global reinsurance industry.”
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Invest NI said it had secured the investment “in the face of competition from other potential locations”.
Dr Vicky Kell, director of innovation, research and development, said: “This project through a combination of the availability of talented software engineers and Invest NI’s support secured it for Northern Ireland.
“This investment in R&D will help advance the cloud-native and AI skills of its team here in Belfast and aligns with the ambitions of Northern Ireland’s Innovation Strategy and Invest NI’s own strong focus on innovation and skills development.
“It will also contribute to building the reputation of Northern Ireland’s software sector through the association with a major player in the global insurance market and its global customer base.”
Invest NI’s R&D support is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the Investment for Growth and Jobs Northern Ireland (2014–2020) Programme.