Seeing an insurance brokerage sector considerably behind in digital transformation, Rashik Adhikari has set his insurtech startup Covered by Sage up to assist these companies.
The company provides a plug-and-play agency platform that aims to lower the financial, operational and technical burden of building, managing and retaining a broker’s book of business.
“We are reimagining agency workflow for the retail agent of the future by harnessing the best of technology so that agents can build a bigger book, improve productivity and ultimately forge stranger connections with their customers,” says Adhikari. “In my years of investing in and studying the retail insurance distribution space, I saw brokerages that were significantly behind in technology but were more interested in value preservation than in adopting new technology and innovating.”
The company closed a $6 million seed round, led by NFX and co-led by Tectonic Capital and Treasury, this month. Additional investors include Metaprop, Blue9, and the founders of Casper, Tinder, Pillpack, Flatiron Health, and Thumbtack. “By rewriting this technology for agents, Covered by SAGE is able to strengthen their role, empowering them to write a lot more business,” says Gigi Levy-Weiss, Managing Partner of NFX.
The risk management platform is based on API connections that allow real-time access wherever a user may be--an issue that has hit insurers and agents hard these past few weeks.
“In light of Covid-19 and social distancing, we are doubling down on our capabilities to empower retail agents and are looking to serve more agents by expanding our footprints,” says Adhikari. As more customers begin their insurance journey online, retail brokers have to adapt their workflows to meet the customers' new journey and evolving expectations that come with it.”
“We believe that Rashik and his team will empower agents in the digital age with cutting-edge technology to streamline success. This, in turn, will benefit customers who will now have access to their risk advisor instantly,” said Josef Feldman, Founding Partner of Tectonic Capital.
