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The cyber insurance industry is likely to go mainstream and is a simple cost of doing business. Here are a few options to consider.
Corvus Insurance, a company focused on applying artificial intelligence and data science to business and cyber insurance, raised $100 million in a Series C round of funding.
The company has raised $147 million to date including a $33 million Series B round. The latest funding round, which was led by Insight Partners and included existing investors, gives Corvus Insurance a valuation of $750 million. Corvus’s funding highlights now old markets are being disrupted with upstarts using AI and data science to grow in key markets like cyber insurance.
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Corvus uses a broker-focused approach to use AI to analyze data to predict and prevent loss. The data Corvus brings together helps policyholders, underwriters, brokers, and reinsurers address market requirements.
Phil Edmundson, CEO of Corvus, said Corvus’ strategic discussions have revolved around whether the company is a SaaS provider to the insurance industry or an insurer. The short version is Corvus is a mix of both. “I started because there’s a huge opportunity to harness data and build a modern platform,” said Edmundson. “We could build value for everyone in the chain. “
The Corvus CEO added that artificial intelligence and data science can simplify the cyber insurance workflow. “If you try to read a cyber policy even knowledgeable people would find it challenging,” he said.
Edmundson also said Corvus is aiming to make use of data from multiple data sources. “Insurance is a field filled with an immense amount of data so underwriters can make decisions about accepting risk,” explained Edmundson. Part of that data flywheel comes from policy holders that share information. “Policy holders have the ability to provide data in real time about new hacks. We know the likelihood of new hacks and have a good sense of how to remediate as quickly as possible.”
According to Corvus, the funding will be used to develop products, go-to-market strategies, and advance its digital platform called CrowBar. CrowBar provides cyber risk data and provides an experience for brokers and policyholders.
Cyber insurance is also a key target for Corvus and represents about 80% of its revenue. The company exited January at a $120 million annual premium run rate with an average policy size of $9,000.
Corvus has a host of business insurance products but has a bevy of first-party cyber insurance offerings for business interruption, system failure, cyber extortion and ransomware, and breach response and remediation to name a few.
Insight Partners Managing Director Deven Parekh will join the Corvus Board of Directors, and Principal David Spiro will join as a Board Observer.
