Insurtech seeking to ‘disrupt’ insurance underwriting nabs seed funding

SME-focused insurtech Continuity has secured €5 million seed investment and is looking to “disrupt” a €700 billion industry for insurance underwriting that has remained “virtually untouched” by digital transformation.

The funding was led by Elaia Partners, Bpifrance and Kamet Ventures.

It plans to use the funds to create an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant for insurance underwriters. Additionally, the company wants to recruit 30 additional staff, extend its portfolio scan solution to new product lines including agriculture and fleet, and introduce a new offering for specialist brokers and MGAs to facilitate delegation of underwriting.

Headquartered in Paris and led by a team of insurance, technology and data science specialists, Continuity’s clients include leading insurers like AXA France, Hiscox France and MMA.

The company's SaaS platform uses open data and AI to detect insurance contracts that are either outdated or invalid across four product lines, including professional indemnity, commercial property, construction workers insurance, and directors & officers liability.

Continuity hopes its technology will help insurers meet increasing demands from SMEs for faster decisions and seamless updates on their coverage.

Sébastien Lefebvre, venture partner at Elaia, said: “We believe Continuity is chasing a massive opportunity to become a cornerstone of insurers’ underwriting process. Their AI platform delivers both speed and precision and is already being used by large insurance companies to adjust risk profiles and premiums. We’re excited to see how strongly Continuity can impact the performance of insurers and support them in the digital transformation of key processes. We’re proud to be working with such an ambitious team with a bold vision backed by outstanding experience gained as former consultants and entrepreneurs.”

Clarisse Blandin, investment director at Bpifrance Digital Venture, added: “We are very pleased to support Continuity in this new phase of development. Led by an ambitious team with unique AI expertise, Continuity is addressing the significant market opportunity that data represents in B2B insurance. This market is due to be disrupted in Europe and the US, and we strongly believe that Continuity is ideally positioned to become a leader in this space.”

Benoit Pastorelli (pictured), founder and chief executive officer of Continuity, commented: “We built Continuity knowing that AI could play a transformative role in helping insurers to underwrite faster and smarter. We are excited to have the support of Elaia and Bpifrance, two of the most knowledgeable and experienced investors in our industry and look forward to continuing to scale our offering to transform underwriting processes everywhere.”

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