The Israeli insurtech company Honeycomb (formerly Agilius) has launched its innovative insurance platform in North America, following the raising of 3.3 million dollars, led by the Phoenix, New Era Capital Partners, IT-Farm Corporation and NFP Ventures.
Honeycomb is entering a market estimated at 22 billion dollars, offering the customer a simple, efficient and transparent experience in a market consisting of 53 million households in the USA.
Honeycomb is the first insurance platform creating a change in the purchasing, underwriting and management of insurance for condominiums. Currently, the purchase of insurance in the USA and over most of the world is complicated, outmoded, it taking a few weeks to get a price quote. The market is fragmented (with more than 100 companies serving the market in the USA and for none of them is this a target market), a market which is lacking in transparency, and an underwriting (risk evaluation) process which is not a smart one. The result is that the insurance is expensive and insurance coverage which is insufficient. The Honeycomb development, which is data-driven and based on artificial intelligence, presents for the first time a fast online process of comparison of price quotes and choice of insurance company within minutes.
Phoenix Technology and Innovation Division head Ron Shibli: “Honeycomb combines technological innovativeness with a deep understanding of the world of insurance in order to solve a painful problem experienced by end-customers in the USA. The assessment of the risk in a condominium is more complex than for a private house or a car. In the absence of technological innovation and an “underwriting data-rich” platform, the insurance companies in the USA greatly limit the insurance coverage offered by them and since the underwriting process is carried by an ‘army of underwriters’, the costs structure of the traditional insurance companies significantly increases the cost of the insurance to the customers and limits their ability to give discounts (for example where the property is well maintained). Honeycomb repairs this market failure with a precise underwriting process based on artificial intelligence and offers the market a simpler way to purchase insurance which is personally tailored, in less than five minutes”.
Honeycomb joint founder and CEO Itai Ben Zaken: “Our development aims at boosting commercial insurance forward, which includes condominiums insurance and bring it into the 21st century. Customers purchasing insurance for a condominium should not have to fill in forms manually, answer tiresome underwriting questions and wait weeks. The market needs to undergo a transformation and Honeycomb has done exactly that. Our online platform and remote inspection of the property by means of artificial intelligence, makes the process simpler and more efficient and enables the customer to receive immediate coverage, tailor made and at a fair price”.
The Honeycomb platform is available to individuals and insurance agents across the USA. The customer enters the details of the property, answers a few questions regarding the property and receives in real time price quotes that are personally tailored and competitive. The policy can be purchased immediately, the virtual checking of the asset in Honeycomb’s mobile application within seven days of the purchase. Honeycomb’s artificial intelligence technology “learns” the input details of the property and enables pricing accuracy as more as more data are accumulated. In addition, the platform, after purchase, provides interactive recommendations for reducing risks, as well as allowing easy filing of claims.
The platform is currently available in Chicago and in the State of Illinois. Launches are planned in Texas and California in the third quarter of 2021.
Honeycomb is an insurtech (MGA) company providing simple and fair insurance for condominiums via a comprehensive digital platform. Honeycomb was established by Itai Ben Zaken (CEO) and Dr Nimrod Sadot (Technology VP), with Manny Roise, former CEO of the American Modern insurance company and USAA Chief Underwriter who joined the company recently, and Adam Chernovini, an online insurances pioneer in the USA. Honeycomb’s approach to managing insurance for condominiums brought it to top place amongst 200 companies in the 2020 InsurTech NY startups competition.
