Outmarket raises $34.5 million to automate insurance paperwork

In short: Outmarket, a startup that uses AI to handle insurance paperwork, raised $34.5 million in new funding.

What happened

Outmarket is set to announce a $34.5 million Series B funding round led by SignalFire, with participation from Fika Ventures, Permanent Capital Ventures, TTV Capital, and Dash Fund.

The round comes about four months after Outmarket raised a $17 million Series A. A person familiar with the deal told TechCrunch the new round values the company at $355 million.

Outmarket was started by Vishal Sankhala, who previously led product at Ethos and has worked at Facebook and Uber. The company focuses on commercial insurance, which often involves many different forms and supporting documents for each business.

Why it matters

Buying and selling insurance, especially for businesses, can still involve a lot of manual work. Think of it like doing taxes with a stack of paper forms instead of using software. Outmarket says its AI can take over time-consuming administrative tasks, like reading documents and filling out applications, so insurance agents and brokers can spend more time helping customers.

Outmarket told TechCrunch it has signed up more than 300 insurance agencies since launching a new product about 14 months ago, including 25% of the top 100 agencies. The article also notes that other startups are working on similar tools for insurance brokerages, including Fulcrum AI and Further AI.

Source: TechCrunch AI