Boost Joins The InsurTech Coalition As A Founding Member

We’re back from another great year at ITC Vegas! ITC is one of our favorite events here at Boost - there’s always a lot of interesting discussions, and this year is no exception.  Here’s three big trends we saw this year, and our takeaways. No surprise here - AI is everywhere this year, and insurance is no exception. AI-based innovations and services were heavily represented in the exhibit hall, with many providers aiming to enable smoother, faster processes. The trend wasn’t limited to a single segment - we saw options for full or partial automation across a broad range of insurance functions, including  claims workflows, underwriting processes, support, policy issuance, risk management, contract interpretation, and more.  At the same time, most of the conversations weren’t focused on how AI could replace existing workflows, but on how it might streamline or augment them. The general sense was that the new era of AI is here, and it’s crucial to figure out how insurance can best leverage these new capabilities to not just do more, but do it faster and better. It’s still early in the AI boom, and it remains to be seen how much of the hype translates into actual impact for the insurance industry. It’s clear from this year’s conference, however, that a lot of insurance-focused companies are betting big that the impact will be significant. Obviously, access to accurate and relevant data is always important. But with current market conditions reducing the margin for error, it’s critical for insurance businesses to be able to make decisions based on the most complete, up-to-date information available.   It’s unsurprising, then, that data and business insights were a major theme at this year’s conference. We saw multiple panels - and multiple product offerings - centered around helping insurers more effectively gather and utilize data. That includes Boost; visitors to our booth could explore a live demo of our new Portfolio Insights product, which gives our (re)insurance partners anytime access to real-time performance data for any Boost programs that they support.  Getting access to the right data is only half the battle, however. The other half is using that data effectively. We also saw a lot of discussion around how insurers could get the most value out of the information available to them, including everything from how to best price products to how to evaluate risk by analyzing new data sources. The insurance industry has a reputation for being slow to respond to change, but you wouldn’t guess it from the conversations at ITC. Adaptation was a major theme of this year’s conference around a number of new developments, including: A lot of change is in the air, and we can’t wait to see what develops from it by the time ITC 2024 rolls around. Our thanks to everyone who stopped by the Boost booth to say hi, and we’re looking forward to seeing you all again next year!  Missed seeing Boost at ITC 2023? It’s never too late to connect with us online.

Today, we’re excited to introduce a powerful new extension to Boost’s technology platform: Portfolio Insights. Portfolio Insights is a proprietary analytics tool that gives (re)insurers anytime access to real-time performance data for any Boost programs that they support - all through a simple and secure online portal. On the heels of last week’s announcement of Boost Re, Portfolio Insights is the latest component of our platform for the risk capital side of the (re)insurance value chain.  Getting timely access to performance data is an ongoing challenge across the insurance and reinsurance industry. Traditionally, (re)insurers are forced to wait to receive monthly or quarterly reports, sometimes as long as two months after the close of any given period, which gives them little to no time to respond to an increasingly dynamic market. Once they finally receive their data, it usually comes in the form of an Excel spreadsheet delivered via email attachment, requiring time-consuming and manual work to enter into their business intelligence systems.  At Boost, we think our partners should know what’s going on with their business right now, not what happened last quarter. Portfolio Insights empowers our (re)insurance partners to: Real-time access to performance data is an industry first in the (re)insurance space, and it’s only possible because of Boost’s fully vertically integrated technology platform. All of our workflows are configured for end-to-end automation in our policy administration system, which has been built specifically for the MGA and program business where data latency issues are particularly pronounced.  All of Boost’s insurtech, MGA, and embedded insurance partners are technology-enabled in their own right and directly integrated with Boost’s API. That means our platform serves as the system of record on every policy and claims transaction on Boost-powered programs. Any event that impacts income, loss, or exposure is reflected in Portfolio Insights’ intuitive dashboards within one hour. Portfolio Insights gives our risk capital partners unparalleled data access and transparency along with the ability to utilize that data whenever and however they need to. We’re excited to release this new tool, and we look forward to not only seeing its impact on underwriting performance and profitability, but to continuing to build out even more valuable functionality with our stakeholders. To learn more about partnering with Boost as a risk capital provider, please contact us at [email protected]

Today we’re very excited to announce the latest component of our comprehensive insurance-as-a-service stack: Boost Re, an innovative new risk transfer program that provides significant benefits for both our customers and our risk capital partners. For our MGA, insurtech, and embedded insurance customers, Boost Re’s turnkey captive-as-a-service solution offers a highly cost-effective path to building and scaling your own full-stack insurance operations. For our risk capital partners, Boost Re provides a reliable and streamlined conduit to deploy reinsurance capacity across Boost-powered insurance programs through dedicated captive cells. Traditionally, companies that aim to innovate in the insurance industry often reach a point where they need to become full-stack carriers, in order to achieve the level of control and independence that they need to realize their vision. However, becoming a full-stack carrier comes with significant downsides, including increased risk, high capital requirements, and often-onerous regulatory requirements. Boost Re changes the equation. With Boost Re’s captive-as-a-service solution, you can build and scale full-stack insurance operations on Boost’s infrastructure. Boost Re allows you to provide your own reinsurance capacity to sit behind the programs you create on Boost’s rails, without needing to become a carrier yourself. This means you can achieve the same benefits of becoming a full-stack carrier, such as participating in underwriting returns, having increased product and operational control over your programs, and receiving unparalleled transparency into your program’s data - all at a fraction of the traditional cost and capital requirements of building a full-stack insurance business.  For our risk capital partners, we now offer even greater value. Boost Re provides a reliable and streamlined conduit to deploy reinsurance capacity across Boost-powered insurance programs through dedicated captive cells. Boost Re is structured as a U.S.-domiciled protected cell captive insurance company and wholly owned subsidiary of Boost Insurance. This enables us to establish and capitalize dedicated and segregated risk-transfer vehicles, which allow a diverse group of risk capital providers to quickly and efficiently deploy reinsurance capacity across our insurance programs. There’s another benefit for risk capital providers working with Boost: peace of mind. We have deep partnerships with prominent reinsurance partners, robust compliance infrastructure, and multi-year track record of producing consistent underwriting returns. Our stakeholders can scale knowing that they’re building on a well-established foundation, and that our platform can support them throughout their growth. Boost Re is now available to our MGA, insurtech, or embedded insurance customers, and also to risk capital providers looking for a channel to access the insurance asset class. Get in touch to learn more about what Boost Re can do for your business.

Exciting news - Boost has been honored in Inc Business Media’s 2023 Power Partners award list, highlighting B2B partners that support startups across all business functions and empower their growth. Out of thousands of applicants, Inc chose companies from a broad range of industries including marketing and advertising, health and wellness, financial services, legal, logistics, and productivity, and of course insurance. All the B2B partners on the list received top marks from clients for being instrumental in helping leadership navigate the dynamic world of startups. The honorees support entrepreneurs across various facets of the business, including hiring, compliance, infrastructure development, cloud migration, fundraising, etc., allowing founders to focus on their core missions.  Here at Boost, that means providing the infrastructure to help insurtech startups build their insurance offerings, get to market more efficiently, and cost-effectively scale their business. Here’s a few of the reasons why insurance startups choose us: While Boost works with a wide range of partners beyond startups - like MGAs, agents, brokers, embedded insurance platforms, and more mature insurtechs -  we love helping innovative young insurance companies execute on their vision. It’s an honor to be recognized by Inc with this award, and we look forward to continuing to support our partners as they break new ground in the insurance industry.

Building an insurance program in-house from scratch is a long, expensive process that can take several years to complete. In this blog, we’ll walk you step-by-step through the entire journey from licensing to launch. Before you can take any action toward creating a new insurance program, you need to ensure you have all the necessary licenses. There are two kinds of insurance licenses that you’ll need to acquire as a preparatory step: an individual license, and an entity license. Each state requires a separate license to sell, solicit, or negotiate insurance within that specific state.  If you or your company attempted to sell or market insurance in a state for which you didn’t have the right licenses, that state would consider you to be illegally selling insurance. This could lead to significant fines and other legal consequences from the state’s insurance regulatory agency. If your business currently sells insurance, you likely already have this step covered. If insurance is a new vertical for your company, however, then you’ll need to go through this process. First, someone within your company must obtain an individual insurance license. Exact requirements vary by state, but this person will likely need to complete a pre-licensing education course and a specific amount of study time, then pass the state’s licensing exam. Once they have their individual license, they can take on the role of Designated Responsible Licensed Producer (DRLP) within your company (this role is sometimes also called “principal agent”). Your DRLP can then sponsor your company to obtain an entity license. The next step is to become a Managing General Agency (MGA). An MGA is a specialized type of insurance broker/agent that has been given authority by an insurance carrier to carry out tasks that would otherwise only be done by the carrier itself. This includes things like making underwriting decisions and issuing policies. While a general insurance license permits you to sell incumbents’ insurance products, an MGA license is a prerequisite to legally developing products yourself. This extra license grants the authority to create and sell insurance products from scratch.  The requirements for becoming an MGA vary by state, so it will be important for you to do your research on the individual requirements of the state(s) where you want to do business. In some states, it may be as simple as filling out extra paperwork, while others may require other factors like an additional exam.  Once you have all the licensing you need, you’ll have to start the actual work of building a team of industry experts, creating an insurance product, and developing the technology you’ll need to sell it. Now that you’re legally permitted to create new insurance products, it’s time to get to work.  This is where you create the actual product you intend to sell. Needless to say, getting this part right is critical for your program’s success.  Building an insurance product starts with creating forms that detail the product, its coverages, your rates, explanations for your prices, and underwriting guidelines that spell out which risks you are (and aren’t) willing to take on. That means that you will also have to determine the risk factors for your product, decide what data is necessary to make informed risk assessments and underwriting decisions, and then craft your applications to capture all the required details. To do this, you’ll need expert actuaries, underwriters, insurance regulatory attorneys, and more–which means you’ll need to either hire a team in-house or partner with a specialized law firm, or other external expert.  Your product will also need to be submitted to state regulators in each state where you want to sell it. Remember that all of your product documentation will be subject to the approval of state regulators, so it’s worth investing time and money on this step. Now your product is built, but in order to get to market you will need capacity.  An insurance program’s capacity is the maximum amount of value that it can insure, which is typically associated with a total premium. This is determined by the amount of capital available to cover its losses. And not just any capital - by law, insurance products must be backed by a licensed carrier. Without capacity and carrier buy-in, you won’t be able to get your product off the ground because there won’t be any funding to cover your customers' expenses when they make claims against their policies.  You’ll need to find an established, licensed insurance carrier to back your product, preferably one with an A-rating and excellent financial strength. The stronger and more reputable your carrier, the more trustworthy and reliable your product will be in the market.  Once you’ve found a carrier, you’ll need to convince them that your product is solid, and won’t expose them to undue risk. Since it’s ultimately their money on the line, the carrier won’t want to back a product if they aren’t comfortable with the risks it’s taking, or if they don’t think the insurance can be offered profitably. This step can be very difficult, especially for new entrants who don’t already have connections to the insurance world. It can easily take years to connect with the right people at the right carrier and convince them to back your product with their reinsurance capacity. Adding to your overall timeline, securing a carrier’s backing for the product is only half the battle. Before you can actually sell it, there’s another step. At this stage your product is ready to sell. However, since the product is being sold on the carrier’s paper, it’s now technically their product. Without their permission, you can’t sell it - or handle any other parts of the transaction.  Permission to sell is just that - selling. Without further permissions from the carrier, you would have to go through them for each stage of the transaction. This means that for each policy you write, you would have to take your customer’s request, contact the carrier, wait for the carrier to approve (or not), and then see that your customer gets their updated documents–a process that could take days or weeks. First, your company needs to be appointed as a producer by the carrier that’s backing the product, which will allow you to sell the product on their behalf.  As we saw, however, being a producer is not enough to manage the full transaction. To be able to deliver a seamless experience to your customers, you’ll need the carrier to delegate you the authority to rate, quote, bind, underwrite, and issue policies on their behalf. This will allow you to offer a modern, all-digital experience rather than needing to go back to the carrier each time you need to complete a policy transaction.  Once your product is ready and you’ve cleared all of the compliance and capacity hurdles, you will need a policy administration system (PAS) that will let you actually offer, issue, modify, renew, and/or cancel policies through your website.  The PAS is the technical underpinning for all-online insurance transactions. Not all PAS have the same capabilities, and delivering an all-online insurance experience is only possible if your PAS is capable of supporting the functions you need.  To acquire a PAS that can support your transaction workflows, you’ll need to either buy one off the shelf and customize it, partner with a company that already has what you need, or build a proprietary PAS in-house. This is another one of those “involved, technically complex, and potentially expensive” steps in this process. Whether you decide to build your PAS in-house or partner with another company, both choices have cost and time associated with them. If you decide to build in-house, we recommend budgeting roughly a year for development and testing, and several million dollars for development costs. Another option is to partner with a SaaS company that offers off-the-shelf administration software. This is expensive - enterprise SaaS fees can easily run upwards of $200k annually, for each product you offer online. Additionally, because state insurance regulations are always subject to change, your PAS will need to be frequently updated to stay up-to-date on compliance. If you build a proprietary PAS in-house, this will require hiring and retaining experienced engineers, product managers, and designers, along with insurance experts who can provide input on what changes to make and how.  You’ve arrived at the final step. Before you get to market, you’ll need a way to actually process and pay out your customers’ claims. In the eyes of your customers, claims administration is the essence of your business and the key value proposition for your product. Filing a claim is one of the only times your customer will interact with your brand post-sale, and the experience they have can influence whether they stay a customer.  Providing a good customer claims experience requires people and systems in place that can accurately and quickly process customer claims against their policies and pay them what they are due.  You’ll need to either hire licensed professionals (also called claims adjusters) in-house, or partner with an appropriately licensed third-party agency (TPA) and outsource the claims process to them. Both options have their pros and cons. On one hand, the in-house option gives you more control over your customer experience, but it will cost you the salaries, training, compliance, and claim program maintenance responsibilities associated with it. On the other hand, partnering with a TPA is easier to manage and potentially less expensive, but you lose control over your customer experience.  In short, the process of building an insurance program is not short. In fact, building from scratch in-house will take you a minimum of three years. And that’s the best-case scenario with everything going to plan and never hitting a bump in the road.  If you are interested in building a custom insurance product but want to skip some or most of this hassle, you might consider partnering with an insurance infrastructure-as-a-service (IIAAS) company. IIAAS provides everything you need to get you from the drawing board to selling on the insurance market.  To learn more about building a custom insurance product with Boost, contact us to get started today. 

Today we have some very exciting news to share: Boost has partnered with Canopius US Insurance Holdings, Inc. a subsidiary of global specialty (re)insurer Canopius Group. As part of this partnership, Canopius will provide us with long-term, dedicated risk capacity to back our insurance programs - and they’ve also made a strategic investment in Boost. First, let’s talk about the capacity portion.   As part of Boost’s insurance infrastructure-as-a-service platform, we’ve assembled a panel of diverse reinsurance partners to provide capacity for the products we offer. This allows us to offer new and unique insurance programs for our customers to white-label - every program includes built-in capacity so they can seamlessly scale as their business grows.  With Canopius as a partner, we’ll be able to accelerate our new offerings, and build out even more innovative new insurance programs. For our customers, this translates into more opportunities to cost-effectively expand their business with new insurance lines, with programs ultimately backed by one of the biggest names in reinsurance. For Canopius and our other reinsurance partners, the Boost platform connects their risk capital with high-growth insurance programs and modern distribution channels. This allows them to more efficiently deploy their capital across a diverse portfolio of programs relative to traditional one-off program business. It’s a win-win for Boost, our customers, and our risk capital partners. While our partnership announcement is exciting enough, we are also excited to share that Canopius punctuated their commitment by making  a direct strategic investment in Boost, as part of a broader financing round that included a number of new and returning investors including RRE Ventures, Fin Capital, and IA Capital Group. The additional funding will allow us to add a number of powerful new features to our technology stack, and we can’t wait to get started. Stay tuned for more news to come, and thanks for coming along on this journey with us. Learn more about how Boost works with reinsurers, insurtechs, MGAs, brokers and agents, and embedded insurance platforms.