Before Ethos, a digital life insurance distributor, went public earlier this year, Vishal Sankhala led its product efforts. At the end of 2023, this seasoned engineering executive—formerly at Facebook and Uber—left Ethos to found Outmarket, a startup that uses artificial intelligence to help insurance agents and brokers automate tedious administrative tasks.
"Over 95% of insurance in the U.S. and globally is still sold through [human] agents, and when you look at the current process, it’s heavily reliant on manual labor," Sankhala told TechCrunch. "Given the sheer scale of this industry, there’s a huge opportunity here."
Outmarket primarily focuses on commercial insurance, as these policies involve complex details and require customization for each business. Companies must choose from a range of coverage options, including general liability, workers' compensation, and directors and officers liability insurance (D&O).
“There are more than 250 different types of coverage available, depending on what type of business you are, what risks you face, and what you want to cover,” said Sankhala. “Each one has a different process, and the application forms you need to fill out and the documents you need to review vary as well.”
Outmarket’s AI automatically handles these time-consuming administrative tasks, helping brokers—such as Marsh and Aon that sell insurance—quickly assess and recommend the most suitable policies, allowing them to focus their efforts on tasks requiring human intervention, such as responding to clients during emergencies.
Sankhala said that since the company launched its new product 14 months ago, this value proposition has attracted more than 300 insurance agencies, including 25% of the top 100. "This level of growth is quite rapid for an industry like insurance, which typically doesn't change quickly," he said.
Investors were also impressed by this company.
Outmarket announced the completion of a $34.5 million Series B round led by SignalFire, with participation from Fika Ventures, Permanent Capital Ventures, TTV Capital, and Dash Fund. According to a person familiar with the investment, this new funding round comes just months after the startup closed its $17 million Series A round four months ago, at which time the company was valued at $355 million.
This company is not the only startup building an AI operations layer for insurance agencies. Other startups aiming to assist insurance agents include Fulcrum AI and Further AI.
However, Sankhala believes that the annual premium volume of the U.S. property and casualty insurance market alone exceeds $1 trillion, leaving significant growth potential for Outmarket to help agencies work faster and smarter.