RiskGenius announces Series B, partnerships with trio of world’s largest insurance carriers
July 15, 2019 | Startland News Staff
Customers are pushing for the growth of RiskGenius, a top Kansas City startup providing software-based natural language processing tools for improved quality and accuracy in the insurance industry, said CEO Chris Cheatham.
RiskGenius announced Monday an undisclosed Series B round led by Hudson Structured Capital Management Ltd., doing business as HSCM Bermuda. The financing round also included participation from RiskGenius’ existing investors as well as new players from Hearst Ventures and FM Global.
RiskGenius is on a mission to help carriers and brokers deliver the right coverage impossibly fast. Launched in 2015, RiskGenius applies machine learning to insurance policies, which enables insurance professionals to dramatically enhance the consistency of coverage they offer clients and deliver it to them faster than ever before possible.
Click here to read why RiskGenius was named one of Startland’s Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2019.
“We are excited to partner with RiskGenius and help the company deliver on its value proposition of improving coverage accuracy and increasing underwriting efficiency for insurance clients,” said Andrew Sagon, HSCM Bermuda vice president. “We believe the company is uniquely positioned to drive standardization of insurance policy language across the industry.”
Click here to read more about RiskGenius’ Series A round, led by QBE Ventures in 2017.
It’s a new phase of growth for the Overland Park-based company, noted Cheatham, also announcing expanded partnerships with mega insurance carriers FM Global, Liberty Mutual, and Everest Insurance. (The latter of which referred RiskGenius to HSCM Bermuda, he said, calling the Everest innovation team “among the most forward-thinking innovators in the industry.”)
“FM Global also inquired about investment opportunities after testing our software,” Cheatham said. “Just like our previous round with QBE Insurance, our growth and investment opportunities are being created by our insurance customers.”
Proceeds from the round are expected to allow RiskGenius to continue improving its software platform for commercial insurance carriers and brokers while initiating outbound marketing and sales to introduce new clients to its unique value proposition, Cheatham said.
RiskGenius’ newest client, Liberty Mutual, will be initially utilizing the company’s software to enable data collection and analytics across hundreds of commercial insurance policies, he added.
The company — one of Startland’s Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2019 — also announced Monday the appointment of Sean Mollet as chief technology officer.
Mollet has a history of successfully leading software development organizations, said Cheatham. Most recently, Mollet served as head of software at APR, an automotive performance company, which was acquired by Driven Performance Brands in 2017.
He will lead the RiskGenius software and data science teams, which are expected to double in size by the end of the year.
“As a software-based business, Sean’s role as chief technology officer is critical to our success,” said Cheatham. “We are excited to welcome him to the RiskGenius team and expect that his prior experience in enterprise architecture and building world-beating hardware and software teams for multiple successful technology companies will play a crucial role in the continued growth and expansion of RiskGenius.”
RiskGenius’ previous Series A round with QBE Ventures saw the investment arm of client QBE Insurance help deploy RiskGenius across North America. The company is now evaluating expansion opportunities in Europe, Cheatham said.
RiskGenius
Featured Business
2019 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Open Belly podcast puts voices of immigrant chefs on the menu
Immigrant entrepreneurs have been quietly advancing Kansas City’s food scene for decades, said Danielle Lehman. “When I started hearing the stories of the chefs, I just felt like they were so compelling, and that food is really what connects us,” said Lehman, host of the “Open Belly” podcast and founder of marketing consultancy firm Boxer…
Professional AF: Diana Kander explores ‘a whole world of content that’s never been touched’
Diana Kander is curious about the world faced by professional women, she said — how female do-ers and leaders uniquely experience life and career building. That curiosity forms a through line for her new podcast interview series, “Professional AF.” “Every episode is about something I want to fix and a lot of them are like…
LEANLAB Education earns $200K grant from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative for public schools research
A $200,000 grant to LEANLAB Education from Mark Zuckerberg’s philanthropic arm will mark the Facebook founder’s first investment in the Kansas City education scene. “We are committed to growing partnerships throughout the country,” said Katie Boody, LEANLAB CEO. “And with the support of [The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative] we aspire to write the playbook for how…
Butterflies and brain waves: KC-area’s Healium floating with WEBBY nomination
A year of traction continues for Columbia-inflated startup Healium by StoryUP. The virtual reality solution for situational stress and anxiety recently landed a WEBBY nomination for best use of augmented reality, revealed Sarah Hill, the company’s founder. “A WEBBY nomination for a small midwest company like ours is a big deal,” Hill said of the…