RiskGenius touchdown: OP insuretech startup scores exit deal with industry leader

Overland Park’s RiskGenius crossed a finish line this week — but work remains as an exit looms, the company announced Tuesday. 

RiskGenius team

Columbus, Ohio-based Bold Penguin — an innovation-driven startup that rapidly increases speed-to-bind for commercial insurance — has agreed to acquire the insurtech company for an undisclosed amount, paving the way for continued dominance as the market leader in the $300-billion commercial insurance connectivity space, the company said in a release. 

“We’re proud to join forces with Bold Penguin and be the leaders in understanding every part of the insurance supply chain and making it better for the businesses, agents, and carriers in the mix,” said Chris Cheatham, RiskGenius founder and CEO, who noted both companies had completed Series B financing rounds. 

Founded by Cheatham and Doug Reiser in 2012, RiskGenius is a software firm that helps people understand their insurance policy language and policy data faster — a capability that’s expected to bolster the work of Bold Penguin in its second insuretech acquisition this year. 

“Bold Penguin’s work upgrading and digitizing small commercial distribution is an ideal complement to our policy analysis focus, and we both share the same passion to connect and accelerate the industry,” Cheatham said.

RiskGenius and its team are expected to fold into Bold Penguin’s insurance intelligence effort, which leverages data with a focus on intuitive workflow processing, the companies said.

Jeremy Smith, RiskGenius

The team will stay the same in the same locations, Cheatham told Startland News, noting he will become vice president of product for Bold Penguin’s new insurance intelligence division. RiskGenius President and COO Jeremy Smith will serve as vice president of business operations.

“Bold Penguin is obsessed with reducing the time it takes to quote and bind commercial insurance,” said Ilya Bodner, Bold Penguin founder and CEO. “Adding RiskGenius allows us to supercharge our data analysis efforts. Their policy level data approach helps our Exchange grow and ultimately has a significant impact in the quoting process for our customers.”

With $13 million raised, RiskGenius holds No. 15 spot on the 2020 list of Kansas City’s Top Venture Capital-Backed Companies, a data-driven effort curated by Startland — the ecosystem building, parent organization that houses Startland News’ independent, non-profit newsroom — and local investment minds.

“Our local Kansas City investors, including Flyover Capital and Mid-America Angels, as well as our Super Angels, played an instrumental role in helping us get to this position,” Cheatham said Tuesday.

The startup was also named one of Startland News Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2019, following significant traction with partners at insurance carrier QBE Insurance Group. 

“Everyone here has just studied the insurance industry. We’ve had thousands of demos with insurance professionals at this point and understand their workflows,” Cheatham told Startland News at the time, reflecting on the company’s momentum. “It’s not testing products and making sure things work [anymore.] It’s execution and making sure people are happy with the software.”

RiskGenius is the second Kansas City startup to see an exit in the past month, after BacklotCars revved its engine with a historic $425 million exit in September.