Authentic raises $11 million

Authentic Insurance, a NYC-based insurance startup, has closed an $11 million Series A round led by FirstMark Capital with participation from Slow Ventures, Altai Ventures, MGV, Upper90, and Commerce Ventures.

Founded in 2022, Authentic enables SaaS platforms, associations, and other communities to create their own captive insurance programs for offering small business insurance. With “one line of code” partners can offer their own insurance product and Authentic takes a fee for underwriting, claims handling, and managing capital markets & reinsurance.

Authentic launched last September and it has 10+ customers including Mindbody, Restaurant365, and theCut that serve ~1 million small businesses. So far, Authentic sold more than 100 policies through its partners and expects to sell 1,000+ by the end of the summer.

The startup plans to add new offerings to its product suite such as workers compensation, health insurance products, and benefits.

“The way commercial insurance is bought and sold has largely remained unchanged since it first came into existence over 50 years ago. Authentic is the first company to virtually eliminate the need for traditional carriers. With a platform approach that enables partners to roll out their own new insurance offerings, it’s been incredible to watch as millions of businesses instantly gain access to a better insurance model on day one.” – Adam Nelson, Partner at Firstmark Capital.