Matan Slagter was born and raised in insurance. He started his career as an actuary. He has worked in several leadership roles across the insurance industry, most recently as head of market disruption for AIG’s personal insurance business. He said that’s where he got the idea for his own business.
Slagter, the CEO of Armadillo, said there is a meaningful gap left by home warranty incumbents and significant growth potential in the space which led him and Lansdon Robbins, his co-founder, to start Armadillo, a home warranty insurtech.
Armadillo, founded this year, recently launched its solution in 20 markets. The company has partnered with Hornbeam Insurance, a property and casualty insurer affiliated with American Life and Accident Insurance Company of Kentucky, to back its products.
“The space is over 50 years old,” Slagter said. “And the product fails to deliver for consumers. There are a lot of consumer complaints and the current product as it stands does not provide the sort of value one would expect to get in the 21st century.”
Armadillo bills itself as, ‘not your father’s home warranty product.’ The company offers a contract that is easily readable and only three pages long. Additionally, Armadillo has removed about 80% of traditional exclusions from its products, Slagter said.
“We’re a new company and everything we are doing, we are using the newest possible technology,” Slagter said. “We are just getting started.”
The company will likely focus on the home warranty market for the foreseeable future but has plans to innovate and expand in the form of distribution.
“We are going to work closely with insurance agents to help them deliver more value for their homeowner clients,” Slagter said. “Our program is designed for the insurance distribution space, and to my knowledge no other home warranty company has done that successfully. We want to be the first home warranty company that delivers for agents and their clients.”
