New York and Ohio-based Authentic, an insurance platform targeting vertical software as a service (SaaS) companies, franchises, and other groups with its Captive in a Box solution and raised $5.5m in a seed round.
The company said its Captive in a Box platform allows for any vertical SaaS company, franchise or association to launch captive programmes for their members in a matter of weeks.
Authentic is offering business owner’s policy (BOP) coverage and is also targeting businesses in food and beverage, salon and spa, retail, fitness, and professional services.
It handles all the logistics of setting up a captive including, legal, underwriting reinsurance and capital, and claims management and customer servicing.
“Captive insurance provides many benefits to organisations and their members, but until now, setting one up was a very long and expensive process,” said Cole Riccardi, CEO and founder at Authentic.
“Through Authentic’s platform, anyone can create their own captive insurance program and realise the benefits within days.”
The company is comprised of professionals from technology and insurance companies, including Next Insurance, Amazon, Canary Consulting, and Aquiline Capital Partners.
The funding round was led by Slow Ventures with participation from Altai Ventures, MGV, Upper90, Clocktower, Commerce Ventures, Mischief Ventures, Core Innovation Capital, and prominent insurance executives.
“Authentic’s ‘captive in a box’ allows them to sidestep the current distribution problems of adverse risk selection that the insurance industry has struggled to overcome,” said Sam Lessin, managing partner at Slow Ventures.
“Authentic’s partners stand to benefit from sharing data to better assess and price risk, as they are the ones that reap the rewards from more successful programs.”