Most major insurers do not allow personal car insurance for someone using a car for business purposes including providing rideshare services. These for-hire drivers or even fleet operators must secure dedicated commercial auto insurance to ensure they are covered. INSHUR is a tech-enabled platform that focuses on providing insurance to on-demand drivers, providing comprehensive commercial insurance plans that are tailored to the specific and unique needs of the rideshare industry. Drivers in NYC must be over age 24, have Uber Driver login credentials (although they’re covered for any TLC driving), and have a car up to 8 seats to be eligible for coverage through the platform that provides 24/7 access for claims processing, renewals, policy management, and payments. With the acquisition of American Business Insurance Services, INSHUR will now have a footprint in all fifty states, providing coverage of 50,000+ vehicles. The acquisition also provides a wealth of data that will be used to steer the development of new underwriting techniques and policy products.
AlleyWatch caught up with INSHUR CEO Dan Bratshpis to learn more about the business, the company’s strategic plans including the acquisition, latest round of funding, which brings the company’s total equity funding raised to $60.6M, and much, much more…
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
The capital raise of USD $26M is an up-round to our Series B in June 2021. It was supported by existing investors including JVP, Munich Re Ventures, Viola Fintech and MTech Capital, as well as a strategic investor who prefers to remain unnamed at this stage.
Tell us about the product or service that INSHUR offers.
INSHUR is the fastest-growing global provider of insurance for the on-demand driver economy, delivering embedded insurance solutions and complementary technology integrations alongside platform providers including Uber and Amazon. Through data, technology, and in-house expertise, INSHUR satisfies the diverse insurance and protection needs of on-demand workers. And thanks to our unrivaled underwriting capabilities and exceptional claims handling, INSHUR offers a personalized suite of products that protects the well-being of its customers and provides flexible coverage and protection which adapts to the job – helping workers to stay on the road.
What inspired the start of INSHUR?
I was born in Moscow, moving to the US as a child with my family in the 1980s. My family made its living driving taxis in New Jersey. After I graduated from Cornell University, I cut my teeth in tech at Merrill Lynch building algorithms for hedge funds.
By the time I moved into the insurance space, on-demand platforms like Uber and Lyft were beginning to dominate the rideshare space, but the insurance industry wasn’t keeping up with the needs of this new class of professional drivers. Because of my family’s background, I felt a personal connection to these drivers, and wanted to help revolutionize the way they accessed insurance – and I knew that technology was the key. I spent some time speaking to taxi drivers about their pain points when it came to purchasing and managing their insurance, and validated the idea for INSHUR, launching in early 2016.
How is INSHUR different?
With financial well-being at the heart of all it does, INSHUR’s unique use of performance-based ratings instantly removes some of the biases associated with location, age, and gender to offer on-demand workers the best coverage. INSHUR is now an Uber-endorsed driver insurance provider, adding to its growing list of platform partners who recognize and value INSHUR for its seamless integration abilities and smooth customer onboarding and relationship management. We continue to build an award-winning and diverse team with exceptional expertise that bridges both insurance and technology, making it insurtech’s best-kept secret.
What market does INSHUR target and how big is it?
In 2018, the global gig economy was worth roughly $204B, expected to reach at least $455B in 2023. On-demand platforms including Uber and Amazon have achieved hockey stick growth globally, predicted to reach $250B by 2025.
For the workers on these platforms, insurance premiums can take up around 25% of revenue, and by 2025, insurance premiums for both delivery and mobility platforms will account for $3B, up from $17.5B in 2022. INSHUR helps drivers find the most cost-effective and safest premiums for their lifestyles and driving schedules, providing them and the platforms they drive for with peace of mind.
What’s your business model?
INSHUR provides insurance direct to on-demand drivers, through the INSHUR website and through partner platforms and apps as an embedded product.
By embedding our insurance into partner platforms, we can access data that enables us to dynamically offer the best products for drivers based on their individual needs and lifestyles. This means the application process is highly efficient and affordable for drivers, as well as being profitable for our capacity partners.
How are you preparing for a potential economic slowdown?
The insurance industry is counter-cyclical: as economies take a downturn and unemployment rises, on-demand driving becomes a more popular way to earn a living. Our ability to generate consistently strong underwriting profits mean that INSHUR is well-positioned to thrive in tough economic environments and to support those looking to protect their incomes.
What was the funding process like?
The funding environment right now is certainly competitive, but as a business, we’ve always focused on driving efficient growth and a path to profitability while balancing unit economics and driving down our loss ratio, so we were in a strong position to hold productive conversations.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
In recent years, “insurtech” has become a dirty word in some circles thanks to early players’ low focus on commercial success and underwriting capability. We believe that insurtech can be a force for good, helping to transform the archaic processes plaguing the insurance industry and driving better returns and more cost-effective premiums for end users. At INSHUR we’re working hard to be part of that change – and we were challenged to prove this to the investor community during this fundraise.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
We’re lucky to have the backing of some extremely supportive VCs, who believe in the potential of INSHUR to radically update the insurance industry for the on-demand age. They are particularly excited by our ability to leverage partner data to understand each driver for their own merits, thereby providing the right insurance solution every time. Our strong profitability and low loss ratios are a testament to our market-leading underwriting capability, which is essential to compete in this industry. These strengths, along with our plans for global growth and expansion, were key to securing this latest round.
We’re lucky to have the backing of some extremely supportive VCs, who believe in the potential of INSHUR to radically update the insurance industry for the on-demand age. They are particularly excited by our ability to leverage partner data to understand each driver for their own merits, thereby providing the right insurance solution every time. Our strong profitability and low loss ratios are a testament to our market-leading underwriting capability, which is essential to compete in this industry. These strengths, along with our plans for global growth and expansion, were key to securing this latest round.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
We have some exciting plans with our partners, especially Uber and Amazon, which will be a focus for the team in the coming months. We think the existing model for driver insurance is ripe for transformation, and we’re planning to become the global agent of change for the market.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Manage your burn rate carefully, and look to the new pockets of talent that have recently left larger tech companies – and now looking for a new challenge – to support your mission.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
Following our recent acquisition of American Business Insurance Solutions, we’re now able to leverage our unique technology beyond New York City to serve on-demand drivers and fleets across 50 states. This, combined with the latest raise and the continued execution of our embedded partnerships, will help us to accelerate growth in 2023 by over 200%.
What’s your favorite restaurant in the city?
H&H Bagels East (not West!).
I used to live above the store and still love their crispy-on-the-outside, hot-on-the-inside bagels. They’re open 24/7 and make some of the best in NYC.
