In an effort to feature more insurtechs, Digital Insurance has modified the format of our Meet the insurtech series.
John Simpson, Patra CEO, shared responses. They have been lightly edited for clarity.
What's the origin story of the company? When was it founded and/or when was the product launched?
Patra, founded in 2005, provides on-demand services for property and casualty, employee benefits and commercial insurance.
A wave of industry consolidation continues to fuel the need for flexible front-, middle- and back-office solutions to streamline processes and position platforms to scale. Confronted with these and other challenges, brokers, carriers, and other market participants turn to insurance outsourcing partners for technology-enabled services.
Any meaning behind the company name?
The company was first founded and built its first global offices in India. Patra means "letter" or "legal document" in Farsi. So, the founders named the company Patra as the first service offering at that time was issuing certificates of insurance.
How many employees?
Patra currently has over 6,500 employees worldwide across four major geographical regions: the U.S., Canada, India, and the Philippines. Most of the process executives are in India. There are also employees in over 40 U.S. states and Canadian territories.
Where is the company based?
Patra is headquartered in El Dorado Hills, California, which includes the executive offices as well as Patra's print and mail production facility. However, Patra has a remote culture, established at the point of inception. This gives Patra a unique advantage to hire very best employees and experience high employee retention, regardless of where employees live, even if circumstances change.
What pain points is the technology trying to solve?
Patra's insurance outsourcing services leverage AI, automation, and human-centric insurance experts to help insurance organizations drive and manage revenue growth and profitability; attract, retain, and grow top talent; and mitigate operational risk and increase organizational resilience by transforming how insurance policies are sold, managed and serviced across the policy lifecycle.
What funding rounds has the company had or are there plans for any?
In 2005, Patra received original funding through a board member to start the company. In its most recent investment, Patra secured a $146 million growth equity from FTV Capital.
What's ahead?
Patra's executives have their eyes focused five to 10 years down the road to identify areas in the insurance lifecycle where they can invest, identifying underserved markets through tech-enabled services.
As a solution provider, Patra recognizes the need for a suite of AI-powered solutions to solve multiple policy touchpoints and workflows. Patra's AI and automation-driven platform serves this purpose. In anticipating future trends, Patra provides human-in-the-loop oversight to review, fine-tune, and verify all output. Insurance has too many nuances to rely solely on technology to process the entire policy lifecycle.
