Award Applications

Overview

CoverWallet is the leading tech company reinventing the $100 billion U.S. commercial insurance market for small businesses. Based in New York and launched in 2016, the company has received more than $35 million in funding from renowned investors including Union Square Ventures, Index Ventures, Two Sigma, and Foundation Capital. Powered by deep analytics, thoughtful design, and state-of-the-art technology, the company is the easiest way for small businesses to understand, buy, and manage insurance online.

Background

CoverWallet was founded in 2015 by co-founders Inaki Berenguer and Rashmi Melgiri. Both MIT graduates with successful tech startup experience, the two saw firsthand how opaque, confusing, and time consuming dealing with commercial insurance was when they were going through the process themselves. As a result of that experience, they teamed up to rethink how the insurance industry treats small businesses and launched CoverWallet.

The company has taken a process that used to take days - and an application that was on average 27 pages long - and reduced it to minutes. Through its online platform, small businesses are able to learn about different types of insurance, see what businesses like them have, purchase policies, and manage claims, among other functions, in minutes.

CoverWallet’s mission is to help businesses get protected. The company makes small business insurance simple, convenient, and transparent. While some competitors focus on specific industries and others offer just a piece of the process (Ex: they only provide quotes), CoverWallet provides a full end-to-end solution for businesses across all sectors.

How it works

CoverWallet is carrier-agnostic and puts the customer first, leveraging technology to find the best coverage for specific customers' needs. This means that customers get the best policies for their business and are not over or underinsured.

CoverWallet partners with leading insurance carriers. By harnessing algorithms, data, and analytics, CoverWallet is efficiently able to provide customers with an all-in-one platform where they can "shop" and compare policies, as well as purchase the policies they need. Additionally, once businesses have their policies, they can use the "wallet," a self-service online platform to deal with all things insurance from obtaining certificates of insurance to managing claims.

What CoverWallet solves

There are 30 million small businesses in the U.S. alone. By 2020, more than 60% of small businesses in the country will be owned by Millennials and Gen Xers. Additionally, research shows that 75% of businesses are underinsured by 40% or more. As digital has become ingrained in our lives and in the ways that businesses operate, CoverWallet delivers the much-needed solution for businesses that want to handle all of their insurance needs online. Businesses have come to expect convenient solutions from the companies they work with, whether it's for employee scheduling and payroll or accounting software and managing their websites. CoverWallet provides this solution for insurance, making small business insurance easy and efficient.

Since the launch in 2016, the platform has been incredibly well received by customers, as more and more businesses seek out digital solutions for insurance that previously did not exist. Users describe CoverWallet as fast, reliable, and easy-to-use, adding that the platform has solved a lot of problems that historically came up in offline insurance processes.

CoverWallet growth and momentum

In 2017, CoverWallet surpassed 800% annual revenue growth. The company closed its Series B in October 2017, bringing the total amount of capital raised to more than $30 million, backed by the world's leading VC firms including Union Square Ventures, Two Sigma, Index Ventures, Foundation Capital, Founder Collective, and Highland Capital Partners.

To continue to provide convenient solutions to more businesses, in February 2018, CoverWallet announced its launch in Europe through a partnership with Zurich, furthering its mission to provide an easy way for businesses of all sizes, places, and industries, to get the insurance coverage they need.

CoverWallet also recently expanded its platform to agents and carriers to maximize its reach and provide its innovative technology to have an even bigger positive impact on the industry. Today, CoverWallet has two solutions: a direct to small business platform (D2C) and a platform for carriers and agents (B2B).

The CoverWallet B2B platform is for carriers and agents and is currently being used by The Hanover, one of the largest U.S. insurance businesses. The CoverWallet B2B platform provides real-time quoting, underwriting, binding, billing, and servicing capabilities to improve overall productivity and reduce technical and operational costs for agents and carriers. The online platform is available 24/7 and expands on the company’s existing D2C offering.

CoverWallet's recognition

CoverWallet was named the Best InsurTech Solution by FinTech Breakthrough, one of the top 50 startups to watch by Built in NYC, one of the 100 Leading Global Fintech Innovators by KPMG, and the Best Commercial Insurance Startup by Capital Finance International.