2019 Startups to Watch: RiskGenius partnership carries KC software firm to next level
January 14, 2019 | Elyssa Bezner
Editor’s note: Startland selected 12 Kansas City firms to spotlight for its annual Startups to Watch list. The following is one of 2019’s companies. Click here to view the full, ranked list of Startups to Watch.
RiskGenius’ elevator pitch: Software firm that helps people understand their insurance policy language and policy data faster.
RiskGenius’s recent partnership with insurance carrier QBE Insurance Group in 2018 sent a signal to the industry to look at the startup’s disruptive solutions, said Chris Cheatham.
Founders: Chris Cheatham, Doug Reiser
Founding year: 2012
Amount raised to date: $5 million
Noteworthy investors: Flyover Capital, QBE Ventures, Mid America Angels
Programs completed: Pipeline, Plug and Play
Current employee count: 19
“[We’re getting] a lot of inbound interest,” said the founder. “We’ve got to have a lot more traction in terms of number of proof of concepts and the number of implementations going into this year.”
Employing the software firm’s products at QBE has prepared the team for what implementation of a new technology at a large insurance company takes, he added.
“Our operations team has worked closely with the QBE team to manage people and processes as they switch over to a new insurance forms library, and we now realize these types of close working relationships are vital to the success of launching RiskGenius within any company,” said Cheatham.
The RiskGenius team is not short on industry experience, said Cheatham, noting the secret behind properly applied AI programs does not lie in the algorithms themselves.
“It’s how you then deploy those algorithms to fix a problem,” he said. “Everyone here has just studied the insurance industry. We’ve had thousands of demos with insurance professionals at this point and understand their workflows.”
Manually rifling through 300 pages of documents per policy may take faster employees a matter of hours, but some companies might have as many as 35,000 policies in place, he explained, noting the AI and machine learning solution allows information to pinpointed immediately.
“You can find it, get to it, review it, and be on your way,” said Cheatham.
2019 will include the rolling out of a new policy checking tool, as well as see the startup continuing to foster implementations of the products at different carriers, he said, noting a main focus is on delivering on RiskGenius’ promises.
“It’s not testing products and making sure things work [anymore,]” he added. “It’s execution and making sure people are happy with the software.”
1) Bungii
2) ShotTracker
3) RiskGenius
4) Metactive
5) Pepper IoT
6) Signal Kit
7) Life Equals
8) Bellwethr
9) Homebase.ai
10) Tea-Biotics Kombucha
11) SquareOffs
12) Zohr
Featured Business
2019 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Compute Midwest named top national tech conference
Consistently attracting futurists and tech leaders from around the U.S., Compute Midwest recently was named a national tech conference that shouldn’t be overlooked. Inc. Magazine included the annual, Kansas City-based conference on its “Top Tech Conferences You Can’t Miss This Fall” list, noting the event’s traditionally strong lineup of speakers. Presented by the Disruption institute,…
Dozens of skyrocketing KC firms break into the Inc. 5000
Kansas City held its own on Inc. Magazine’s annual ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing, private companies. The Wednesday unveiling of the Inc. 5000 featured 44 metro firms — including several area tech firms, like k12itc and Rhythm Engineering. K12itc, which in January made Startland’s 2016 top 10 startups to watch, delivers cloud-based IT services to…
Backstitch wants to fix a billion-dollar communication dilemma
With the cost of poor business communication climbing as high as $37 billion a year, Backstitch founders Jordan and Stefanie Warzecha saw an opportunity to clear the air. The married couple — who say communication has never been a problem for them — founded their corporate communications platform in 2012. Backstitch aims to mitigate the…
Google Fiber names local duo as digital inclusion leaders
After a successful first year, Google Fiber — in partnership with the Nonprofit Technology Network — has announced its second round of Digital Inclusion Fellows. As part of the program, fellows will create and lead digital literacy efforts in the 11 metro areas with Google Fiber, including Kansas City. Initiatives include assisting adults with high…