Functional Finance Closes on $8m Seed Funding Round

Functional Finance, a software platform that integrates and automates data and reporting functions for insurance companies, has announced that it has secured $8 million in seed capital, plus $2 million in SAFE notes for future equity investments, which will go towards product development and client relationships. The fundraising round was led by venture capital and growth equity firms New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA), Walkabout Ventures and Altai Ventures, with participation from industry titan Hank Greenberg’s C.V. Starr Insurance and other premier investors.

Rashmi “Rush” Melgiri – a two-time insurtech entrepreneur – and seasoned technology executive Tony DeGangi co-founded Functional Finance in 2021. Their mission is to resolve the convoluted operational processes found throughout the insurance sector following years of experience dealing with insurance technology issues firsthand. CEO Melgiri previously co-founded CoverWallet and is joined by CoverWallet’s former president Jim Ermilio, who now serves as Functional Finance’s President. DeGangi, Functional Finance’s CTO, was previously the co-founder and CTO at Renew.com, an online Medicare brokerage platform.

Functional Finance’s technology easily integrates within the finance tech stack of corporate partners to offer billing/invoicing, premium collection, financing, reconciliation, payables processing, reporting and integration back to the general ledger. The platform provides an automated, seamless connection that offers total visibility at a policy or account level.

“At my last startup I realized firsthand that spreadsheets and emails are terribly inefficient, error-prone and costly ways for the insurance industry to manage their payables and receivables,” said Melgiri, CEO of Functional Finance. “You can build fast-growing businesses and take payments online but reconciling that on the back end is often overlooked and deprioritized, leaving it to intensive manual labor. There was a tremendous opportunity to create an automated technology solution that will make the industry move faster, and the experience should be more efficient and positive for clients and customers.”