INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Planck Re, a startup that wants to simplify insurance underwriting with artificial intelligence, announced today that it has raised a $12
The funding was led by Arbor Ventures, with participation from Viola FinTech and Eight Roads
Co-founder and CEO Elad Tsur tells TechCrunch that the capital will be used to expand Planck Re’s product line into more segments,
including retail, contractors, IT and manufacturing, and grow its research and development team in Israel and North American sales team.The
Tel Aviv and New York-based startup plans to focus first on its business in the United States, where it has already launched pilot programs
with several insurance carriers
Tsur says that Planck Re’s clients generall use it to help underwrite insurance for small to medium-sized businesses, including business
owner policies, which cover property and liability risks, and workers’ compensation.Founded in 2016 by Tsur, Amir Cohen and David
Schapiro, Planck Re poses its technology as a more efficient and accurate alternative to the lengthy risk assessment questionnaire insurers
Its platform crawls the Internet for publicly available data, including images, text, videos, social media profiles and public records, to
build profiles of SMBs seeking insurance coverage
Then it analyzes that data to help carriers figure out their potential risk.Before launching Planck Re, Tsur and Cohen founded Bluetail, a
data mining startup that was acquired by Salesforce in 2012, where it served as the base technology for Salesforce Einstein
Schapiro was previously CEO of financial analytics company Earnix.There are already a handful of startups, including SoftBank-backed
Lemonade, Trōv, Cover, Hippo and Swyfft, that use algorithms to make picking and buying insurance policies easier for consumers, but
AI-based underwriting is still a nascent category
One example is Flyreel, which focuses on underwriting property insurance and recently signed a deal with Microsoft to accelerate its
go-to-market strategy.Tsur says Planck Re is developing more dedicated algorithms to meet the evolving needs of insurance providers
For example, many underwriters now want to know if clients in photography use aerial imaging equipment, so Planck Re’s imaging process
capabilities automatically check images for that information.He adds that being able to automate underwriting enables carriers to find new
distribution channels, including allowing customers to apply for insurance online without needing to fill out any forms
Planck Re also continues to monitor and underwrite policies, which means if a customer’s risk profile changes, insurers can react
quickly.In a statement, Arbor Ventures vice president and head of Israel Lior Simon said “We are excited to partner with Planck Re and the
driven, entrepreneurial team
Insurance companies are thirsty for actionable data, to assess risk, gain real time insights and enhance customer understanding
Planck Re aims to empower them through a streamlined digital approach, which we believe will truly alter the insurance industry.”
