America is at a crossroads and everyone seems to disagree about everything. But there’s one thing most of us see eye-to-eye on: The insurance industry stinks.
It’s an antiquated, expensive, and confusing industry that’s rigged against the consumer.
We’ve all been there before: You pay your insurer so that you’ll have protection when something goes wrong, but when you need that protection most, nine times out of ten, you end up getting fleeced.
“Sorry, this doesn’t go towards your deductible – it goes to your out-of-pocket maximum.”
“Sure, you have flooding insurance, but it doesn’t cover flooding caused by high tide events – just flooding caused by rain.”
And our personal favorite… “Your policy doesn’t cover ‘acts of God.'”
These are only some reasons the American Customer Satisfaction Index ranks it as one of the most hated industries in America.
If you ask us, “hated” is just another way of saying “ripe for disruption.” And startups are here to answer the call.
Here are three “insurtech” companies you should know about.
Next Insurance
Next Insurance is an online insurance company that aims to help small businesses by offering them insurance policies that are easy to understand and affordable.
Here’s what makes this company so compelling: not only does it use AI t o process applications in as little as 10 minutes… it also prioritizes customer support above all else. Its representatives are around 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year… with a mission to flip the industry’s terrible rep on its head.
Kin Insurance
This startup provides a one-stop shop for some of the industry’s most vulnerable consumers: homeowners living in disaster-prone areas like Florida and Louisiana.
Kin Insurance is a fully licensed home insurance technology company that takes a digital-first approach to find affordable, customized coverage for high-risk homes.
Since its founding in 2016, this insurtech has saved its customers an average of $500 and paid out $7.33 million in claims. Customers can receive a quote in minutes just by entering their home address – turning a stressful situation into a streamlined experience.
Jumpstart
If you live near a fault line or another catastrophe-prone area, listen up: Regular homeowner’s and renter’s insurance policies don’t cover floods, earthquakes, and other hazards. Thankfully, now you can turn to Jumpstart and its quick, easy, and unique claims process for help.
The 6-year-old insurtech provides immediate financial payouts to individuals impacted by earthquakes. It’s called “parametric insurance” – meaning each customer’s payout is automatically triggered by certain parameters. In other words, if you’re covered by Jumpstart and your address is within a certain radius of a confirmed earthquake, you get your money. No more long delays, expensive deductibles, or annoying visits from adjusters. Jumpstart gives you a “jump start” so that you can get back on your feet and start rebuilding your life.
We first recommended Jumpstart to the Angels & Entrepreneurs Network back in 2019 – and just last month, the startup was acquired by Neptune Flood. This is one of our model portfolio’s first exits, and we couldn’t be more excited for the company.
The bottom line is: Startups improve our lives. By introducing new technologies and strategies to antiquated industries, young companies can drive lasting change for consumers and solve our most painful problems.
Broken systems that inconvenience (or worse, harm) us are incredible hunting grounds for startups with unicorn potential. Stick with us, and you’ll be first to know when we find one.
Stay well.
The Research Team
It’s an antiquated, expensive, and confusing industry that’s rigged against the consumer.
We’ve all been there before: You pay your insurer so that you’ll have protection when something goes wrong, but when you need that protection most, nine times out of ten, you end up getting fleeced.
“Sorry, this doesn’t go towards your deductible – it goes to your out-of-pocket maximum.”
“Sure, you have flooding insurance, but it doesn’t cover flooding caused by high tide events – just flooding caused by rain.”
And our personal favorite… “Your policy doesn’t cover ‘acts of God.'”
These are only some reasons the American Customer Satisfaction Index ranks it as one of the most hated industries in America.
If you ask us, “hated” is just another way of saying “ripe for disruption.” And startups are here to answer the call.
Here are three “insurtech” companies you should know about.
Next Insurance
Next Insurance is an online insurance company that aims to help small businesses by offering them insurance policies that are easy to understand and affordable.
Here’s what makes this company so compelling: not only does it use AI t o process applications in as little as 10 minutes… it also prioritizes customer support above all else. Its representatives are around 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year… with a mission to flip the industry’s terrible rep on its head.
Kin Insurance
This startup provides a one-stop shop for some of the industry’s most vulnerable consumers: homeowners living in disaster-prone areas like Florida and Louisiana.
Kin Insurance is a fully licensed home insurance technology company that takes a digital-first approach to find affordable, customized coverage for high-risk homes.
Since its founding in 2016, this insurtech has saved its customers an average of $500 and paid out $7.33 million in claims. Customers can receive a quote in minutes just by entering their home address – turning a stressful situation into a streamlined experience.
Jumpstart
If you live near a fault line or another catastrophe-prone area, listen up: Regular homeowner’s and renter’s insurance policies don’t cover floods, earthquakes, and other hazards. Thankfully, now you can turn to Jumpstart and its quick, easy, and unique claims process for help.
The 6-year-old insurtech provides immediate financial payouts to individuals impacted by earthquakes. It’s called “parametric insurance” – meaning each customer’s payout is automatically triggered by certain parameters. In other words, if you’re covered by Jumpstart and your address is within a certain radius of a confirmed earthquake, you get your money. No more long delays, expensive deductibles, or annoying visits from adjusters. Jumpstart gives you a “jump start” so that you can get back on your feet and start rebuilding your life.
We first recommended Jumpstart to the Angels & Entrepreneurs Network back in 2019 – and just last month, the startup was acquired by Neptune Flood. This is one of our model portfolio’s first exits, and we couldn’t be more excited for the company.
The bottom line is: Startups improve our lives. By introducing new technologies and strategies to antiquated industries, young companies can drive lasting change for consumers and solve our most painful problems.
Broken systems that inconvenience (or worse, harm) us are incredible hunting grounds for startups with unicorn potential. Stick with us, and you’ll be first to know when we find one.
Stay well.
The Research Team
Follow @angelsandentrepreneurs
You state you are very excited for JumpStart who raised money from all of us on the Republic platform only to find 2 years later Kate the founder of Jumpstart sells her company to Neptune. In the 10 month process she negotiated to give us our initial investment and not dime more. Does this mean JumpStart did not grow or lose at all in those 2 years? I thought we were investing for a possible future return not offering a 0% loan.
My question- Is this what Investing in start ups is all about giving 0% loans? I didn’t see that option on the Republic platform. This would be my first exit and I can say it’s not great. I would rather invested and lost my money knowing the founder and their team tried to grow the company committing to take us along for ride not using us.
It’s sad to think a founder can ask for investments and string us along making us think the company is doing good until they find another partner pay off a 0% loan and continue to grow the business while dropping us and reap all the future returns when that company has an exit someday. Kate stated there will be no one getting a return. I hope this means she didn’t make a deal to later get a return when Neptune goes public if and when they do. If so is there anyway we can take legal action if that were to happen. If anyone knows please chime in.
Hi Tim,
I totally understand your frustration. Obviously, a breakeven exit isn’t an ideal scenario. But that’s why we ALWAYS encourage having 10 or more startups in your portfolio. Statistics dictate that if you invest in 10 companies, you’ll probably end up with:
– 5 failing entirely, losing all your money
– 2 breaking even, returning only the money you invested
– 2 that come in at a 2-5X return
– and 1 that grows by 10X, 100X, 1,000X… you get the picture.
Given the extensive vetting we do here, and the incredible panel of experts guiding the deals here, we expect to see our numbers beat those averages substantially. For example, we haven’t seen a single rec go to 0 yet.
In short: those breakeven exits ARE normal, and they’re part of a larger strategy. There’s no incentive for founders to bring on investors and then never give them a return. Simply put, no return (or a 1X) indicates that the company’s value has stayed the same. That means Kate likely hasn’t made a return either, though we don’t know that for certain.
Hope this helps provide some context. Have a lovely day!
There is actually a fourth startup fixing this industry that is currently crowdfunding: https://www.startengine.com/rightsure