RaisinBread, an insurtech platform for commercial insurance coverage, has a name that alludes to its mission – providing a simple, single place to get coverage.
Anthony Washington, CEO and one of the founders of the company, recalls getting 15 to 20 possible names from a consultant. While talking with partners about "raising capital," one having dinner in India associated the phrase with raisin bread on the table and sent a photo. At first, they all laughed, but the idea stuck, Washington said.
"Most people, when they reflect on when they last had raisin bread, they usually tell a story of a simpler time in their life. No matter where they go, they know that they can get consistency in the taste," he said. "RaisinBread, symbolizes for us the following: consistency, simplicity and transparency."
These traits lead to efficiency because RaisinBread is a simple platform that can accommodate the basic data that carriers require, according to Washington. "Then we shop on the back end. We also create a dashboard for users to leverage at their leisure," he said, noting that users don't have to go to multiple portals to get quotes. "While they're on our platform, they can send their quotes directly to their insurers. They don't have to leave our platform to do that. They can also buy and pay for their policies for their customers directly from our platform."
RaisinBread lowers the cost of going to many agencies for quotes.
"The agency model's really flipping because now they don't have to go through the drill of trying to get an appointment until they're ready or have built up volume," Washington said.
RaisinBread began working on its platform idea in 2019 and started building on an early model in 2021. It's now looking to scale up its business, according to Washington. Going forward, RaisinBread will leverage AI on its platform, he added.
"There are features in our product that we think that AI will help us to advance how we do things," he said. "So we have a big push in that space on the front end of entering data to how we store data and the ability to learn and how we think about using our information into the future."
RaisinBread offers commercial coverages including business interruption, commercial property, general liability, professional liability, cyber liability, workers compensation, commercial crime, inland marine, employment practices, commercial umbrella and commercial auto.
The platform has a placement engine that can manage the decision point of when insurance can be found in standard market and when it must look in the excess and surplus insurance markets, Washington explained.
When agents become users on the platform and enter information, RaisinBread "typically wants to see at least three quotes coming back," Washington said. "But we'd love to see as many as they qualify for."
RaisinBread's platform reduces the time needed for agencies to get quotes. It keeps adding carriers, including specialty carriers – most recently, Rainbow, an MGA specializing in insurance for restaurants. Based in Arizona, RaisinBread now serves more than 30 U.S. states and plans to eventually cover all 50 states.
The company supports efforts to help the homeless, a cause that means a lot to Washington. RaisinBread and its CEO support Neighborhood Outreach Access to Health (NOAH) and UMOM Day Centers, two Phoenix-based organizations.
