Layr, an insurtech startup that uses Artificial Intelligence and machine learning to help small businesses customize commercial insurance bundles announced today a $5 million Series Seed round of financing. Sandbox Insurtech Ventures led the round with participation from new investors Flyover Capital and Maschmeyer Group Ventures, and from existing investor, Lloyd’s of London. Chris Zock, managing director of Sandbox Insurtech Ventures and Keith Molzer, general partner at Flyover Capital will join Layr’s Board of Directors.
“Layr is delivering innovative solutions to stakeholders across the small commercial insurance value chain: carriers, brokers, and most importantly, policyholders. Sandbox is proud to lead this round of investment and looks forward to supporting Layr’s first-rate management team during this next phase of the company’s growth,” said Chris Zock, managing director of Sandbox Insurtech Ventures. “Phillip has deep commercial insurance experience and is executing a unique vision that will enable Layr to grow the business at an impressive rate. We look forward to supporting Phillip and the team,” Gretchen Hayes, venture partner at Sandbox, added.
“Layr addresses some fundamental pain points in the industry: the accelerating interest in engaging customers in an efficient, fully digital format and the rapidly evolving customer needs in the small business segment of the market,” said Keith Molzer, general partner at Flyover Capital. “With a platform that can deliver efficient and adaptable coverage for SMBs, we think Layr is particularly well-positioned during this era of economic uncertainty as small businesses look to get back on their feet in the new environment.”
Co-founded in 2016 by Phillip Naples, a commercial insurance broker with more than 20 years of experience and one of his former customers Andrew Egenes, a serial entrepreneur, and incubated in the first cohort of Lloyd’s Lab, Layr couples a customer-centric approach with modern technology to automate the time-intensive legacy process of sourcing, purchasing, and managing business insurance through its cloud insurance platform.
Since launching the platform in 2018, business owners have been able to generate tailored quotes entirely online in minutes, bind coverage in a few clicks, and pay a bundled premium monthly with a credit card. To date, Layr has placed more than $2B of aggregate coverage limits across thousands of policies through its A-rated carrier partners. Layr also partners with traditional brokers to bring more flexible product offerings and a modern, digital experience to their small commercial clients.
Financing from the seed round supports Layr expanding its use of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning for the next version of its cloud insurance platform which will offer business owners expanded, intelligent recommendations for insurance policies and coverage limits tailored to their company while virtually eliminating the business insurance application process.
“Data suggests that more than 60% of US-based businesses will be owned by Gen Xers and Millennials in the next year. We’ve created an entirely new and automated process that meets the needs of modern business owners. This round of investment affirms that we’re solving a real problem and supporting economic growth by making business insurance more available, understandable, and affordable than ever before,” said Layr Co-Founder and CEO Phillip Naples.
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