For people who enjoy outdoor hobbies like skiing or cycling, rising healthcare costs and the proliferation of high-deductible health-insurance plans offer a conundrum: Can they keep doing the physical tasks they enjoy, even if an accident could wipe out their savings?
That's the problem being tackled by Buddy, an insurtech that launched in Arizona in October 2018. Buddy offers episodic supplemental accident coverage for active people, which can be turned on and off for the duration of a skiing, hiking or hunting trip, right from a mobile phone. Co-founders Charles Merritt, James Paul and David Vogeleer looked to bring their disparate business experiences to bear in a way that would help people with similar interests to them feel more secure in enjoying their hobbies.
"The genesis of buddy is a synthesis of our backgrounds," Merritt says. "I come from the world of consumer tech with a pit stop in fintech. Jay has experience in commercial insurance and David handles tech.
"We had a shared passion for an active outdoor lifestyle, and we saw the people in our community go from having personal expenses of hundreds of dollars after an accident to thousands," he continues. "So we developed a supplemental accident insurance product designed to pay policyholders directly."
Buddy is currently available through a network of partners, such as lift-ticket kiosks or intramural leagues like SportsEngine, via API technology, as well as on the company's website. But the goal, its founders say, is to be a trusted partner for active people who turn their coverage on and off.
"People want to purchase coverage for short periods of time without having to go through a broker," Paul says. "We all come from marketing and advertising and are excited about what Buddy can be as a brand."
That means the company is developing a digital conversational interface for its app so it can acquire more customers who aren't necessarily going through a formal entrance to their activity. Merritt credits the company's participation in the MetLife/Techstars accelerator program with helping it refine its product and approach.
"Without the help we got from that, we would've been banging our heads against the wall," he says.
