Insurtech startup based in Berlin INSRD announced today that it has raised a pre-seed round of €500,000. INSRD is a startup in Cohort 5 of Earlybird Venture Capital's Vision Lab program, which provides funding, mentorship, and networking.
INSRD is reinventing commercial insurance to better serve companies that grow rapidly through innovation but frequently face new risks.
Businesses often outgrow insurance coverage, so it's important to have a responsive solution that evolves with them.
Through a combination of expert advice, complementary risk solutions, and proactive risk monitoring, INSRD has won over prominent companies in technology, venture capital, and other emerging industries as clients.
I spoke to its co-founders, serial entrepreneur Stefan Barg, and John Ismailoglu, a deep domain practitioner with nearly 20 years of experience in the insurance industry.
Although Barg moved to Germany 16 years ago, both co-founders share a New York background. They stressed that they never thought they would end up in the insurance industry, but as Barg points out, “There are many different sides to the insurance industry.”
With a background in ad technology and IT, he realized that the industry was in dire need of digital solutions.
He shared:
“What we've always lacked is someone like John, someone with real field experience, someone who has a real vision for how the insurance business works and needs to be run. So it's not purely a technology issue.
Technology enables us to build better ways of doing business.
And when I met him, after spending the first hour spouting off about how broken and backward the industry is, we talked about opportunities to make things better. That's how we started INSRD. ”
At the core of INSRD's technology solutions is its 'Protect & Connect' platform, which leverages advanced workflow automation and industry-specific AI. This technology proactively identifies and monitors new risks while keeping insurance programs up to date and ensuring seamless collaboration between customers, advisors, and insurers.
Ismailoglu elaborates on the need for adaptive insurance:
“If you look at the traditional way insurance is sold and/or managed, you walk down the street to a broker, are given a pen and paper to fill out a form, and then, if you're lucky, get the right insurance. let's.
They run the risk of being under- or over-insured at any time. You may or may not have adequate insurance. And if you're lucky, you'll get a phone call once a year that says, “Happy birthday, you're going to die and you need life insurance.”
So that's the level of risk assessment that exists today. ”
INSRD recognized the need for insurance that provides accuracy and responsiveness to large-scale changes in risk exposure. This is especially important for next-generation industries such as AI, creator economy, deep tech, and robotics.
“We're developing technology that tracks companies, their activities, and a variety of other parameters, essentially risks, in near real time. And what we're saying is, we compensate them accordingly. It means you can adjust the range' needs.
You'll feel like your business insurance is now adaptive. It's not a static contract. In fact, it's a contract that lives on and changes as your business changes. ”
INSRD acts as an insurance broker and its technology is used by brokers. At the core of insurance is an insurance broker, we are the intermediary, and the technology we are developing will be used for the broker.
The commercial insurance market is experiencing a decline in brokers and agents as demand for emerging and specialty risks soars. This leaves dynamic businesses underserved and leaves their businesses at risk due to coverage gaps and exposures.
Furthermore, the insurance industry, especially in Germany, is risk averse as an industry. The first wave of change was seen in companies like Get Safe and comparison platforms like Check24, but this primarily benefited small and medium-sized businesses working in relatively stable industries.
However, Barg explains:
“If your company grows quickly, your requirements change, or your requirements become more complex, you quickly need another solution.”
Points where agile insurance may be needed for startups and scale-ups include fundraising, changes in revenue, and increased headcount when working with corporate clients.
Ismailoglu said, “Oftentimes when companies start engaging with, say, a business customer, they try to rush to get things together. And what we're seeing is they're setting it up much faster. “It means you can adapt it to your specific needs. So it's all there.” That way you don't end up in a situation where a potentially big deal falls through because you didn't have some stupid insurance. ”
Another example is when a company acquires customers in different markets or changes its business model.
Regarding the practicalities of disrupting a traditional industry, Barg explains that insurance is very much about relationships, referrals, and word of mouth. At INRD, we are fortunate to have many existing clients who refer us to our circle. He is also deeply rooted in the technology ecosystem and his partnerships with VCs and accelerators.
I was curious about how it might impact the insurance industry in the future if these traditional companies and brokers didn't offer adaptive insurance.
According to Ismailoglu,
“Our vision is that at some point this is going to be so big that we have enough customers that the big insurance companies are going to say, 'Hey, we can't take this on anymore. Come on, please, let's get on board with it.' Thing.”
We believe this will become an important business channel in the future.
I think the main thing we need to prove to the insurance industry is that technology risk is no worse risk than anything we've ever experienced. Insurance companies have experienced these transitions over hundreds of years, from the Industrial Age to the Information Age and beyond.
We're trying to help them do this a little faster. Over the past 20 years, technological advances have been dramatic and non-linear. Change is inevitable and it is the way forward. ”
“This funding round was raised from ecosystem angel investors including Alex Grimm, former executive at insurtech champion Getsafe, Florian Huber, and Daniel Dippold of EWOR, alongside technology executives and venture capitalists. Ta.
INSRD will use the funding for team development and product development to further develop its technology roadmap.
Lead image: INSRD co-founders John Ismailoglu and Stefan Balg. Photo: No credit.
