Capitola, a digital marketplace for commercial insurance, announced on Monday that it has raised $15.6 million in a series A funding round. The platform connects brokers and carriers, using artificial intelligence-based risk-appetite matching to streamline its placement process. Munich Re Ventures led the funding round, which will be used to enhance Capitola’s market-intelligence capabilities and accelerate sales in the United States.
Capitola’s Series A funding round comes on the heels of a successful $5m. series seed round in 2021, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. The company’s platform is designed to simplify workflows, provide smart market recommendations, organize and manage hard-to-place risk and multi-layered programs, and create advanced client reports and proposals using customized templates.
According to Capitola co-founder and CEO Sivan Iram, the insurance sector has been slow to adopt tech, to a fault.
“The insurance industry has seen many technological advancements over the years, but very little attention has been given to the insurance professionals and the tools they use.”
Sivan Iram
“The insurance industry has seen many technological advancements over the years, but very little attention has been given to the insurance professionals and the tools they use,” Iram said. “Capitola’s mission is to help insurance professionals deliver exceptional client service and coverage. Our platform brings together brokers and underwriters, removing many of the operational inefficiencies around manual processes and repetitive tasks to allow them to focus on what they do best.”
The US specialty risk market has a lot to gain from what Capitola is offering
Oshri Kaplan, managing director at Munich Re Ventures, explained that the specialty risk market in the United States stands to gain a lot from what Capitola is offering. “The US specialty risk market has grown exponentially over the last few decades and would benefit from a digital marketplace that streamlines processes and expands the option for insurance placement,” said Kaplan.
Munich Re Ventures holds more than $1 billion in assets under management, and primarily seeks to invest in start-ups transforming the future of risk and risk transfer. The organization operates as the venture capital arm of Munich Re, a leading reinsurance, primary insurance, and insurance-related risk solution provider.
“We are excited by Capitola’s approach to this opportunity and are thrilled to support their journey,” noted Kaplan.
With the additional funding, Capitola plans to continue growing its team, developing innovative solutions, and expanding its impact on the insurance industry by streamlining processes, providing market intelligence and enabling insurance professionals to deliver client service and coverage.