Commercial insurance startup Briza raises $3 million

Briza , “the insurance-as-a-service API” has just closed another round of funding, bringing its total funding to date to $3 million.

The Toronto-based startup and a team of ~8 offers a platform that connects insurance rating systems to insurance agencies and allows customers to obtain commercial insurance quotes and pay for coverage online. It has partnered with Crum & Forster, Hiscox, Markel, and Coalition and says that over 100 insurance agencies have signed up for its closed beta version across the US. 

Institutional investors include 500 Startups and Leaders Fund and Angel investors include Sid Sankaran, CFO of Oscar Health; Alon Neches, former Treasurer, AIG; Sharon Ludlow, former CEO, Swiss Re Canada; Mike McDerment, CEO of FreshBooks; Louis Beryl, Founder and former CEO of Earnest Inc.

“They say the commercial insurance industry walks slowly, but this can’t continue in the era of APIs. Briza is creating the infrastructure that underwriting systems will use to talk to insurance agencies, consumer apps, and anybody who wants to instantly sell insurance with just a few lines of code. The commercial insurance industry is moving slowly towards the instantaneous, online procurement of commercial policies. It’s about time!” – CEO Ben Munro.