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
Help from above: Why protecting satellites from cyber attacks could hold key to adapting to climate change
Humans must responsibly rise to the occasion as Earth’s climate changes, Charles Beames said, detailing the role well-protected satellites and space systems can play in putting life-preserving solutions into orbit. “Space systems are one of the keys to the future, our future, of dealing with the changing climate and our adaptation,” said Beames, aerospace expert and…
In the field: Industry-specific, hands-free voice tech helps ‘hero up’ data collecting workers
After years of research, Bruce Rasa and his team identified a consistent pain point for field workers: capturing data on-the-go and looping it back to their headquarters. They need a co-pilot, he said, noting the role played by KC-based Dexer (formerly AgVoice), agriculture’s first handsfree data capture service to help cross-industry specialists create records —…
New city flag designed for KC’s now (and tomorrow): Here’s where you’ll see it flying first
Kansas City is ushering in an era of growth and development, Jared Horman said, and the unveiling of a new municipal flag is just the way to recognize this new chapter. “The timing feels particularly exciting with the Chiefs headed to the Super Bowl, the opening of the new terminal at the airport and the…
Pushing without force: Founder credits accelerator’s collaborative ‘in the trenches’ guidance for overseas scaling success
Editor’s note: This article is sponsored by the NMotion startup accelerator, but was independently produced by Startland News. The powerhouse mix of global and localized support David Biga received from the NMotion Growth Accelerator was well worth the program’s required exchange of equity, the proptech startup founder detailed. Particle Space — one of Startland News’…