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Bdeo, a Madrid-based provider of visual intelligence solutions to insurance and fleet industries, announced that it has raised an additional €7.5 million to accelerate its international expansion and strengthen its position across Europe and Latin America.
Julio Pernía, CEO, Bdeo.
The new financing came from new investors Armilar, Hollard, The Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI), and Íope Ventures, a new investment vehicle launched by Wayra and Telefónica Seguros. Existing investors K Fund and Blackfin also participated in the investment.
Bdeo was recently awarded the European Innovation Council’s Seal of Excellence, a recognition that the European Commission grants to only 160 companies each year, in the context of which grants were received from the Comunidad de Madrid and red.es as part of the new investment.
Reinforcing Bdeo’s Solution and User Experience
Bdeo’s AI-powered Visual Intelligence solution remotely assesses damage to vehicles and homes to accelerate insurance claims and underwriting processes. The ease of integrating Bdeo’s technology into insurer operations, as well as the reliability of the results it delivers, are just some of the key factors that helped drive this new investment, a Bdeo statement says. The company adds that the digital and agile experience it provides its users was another important factor, as policyholders everywhere now expect an agile, remote, and immediate experience throughout the insurance process.
“Based on the impressive results we have achieved and our capital efficiency given the challenging times we’re living in, it is reassuring to receive this trust from investors,” comments Julio Pernía, CEO, Bdeo. “It is a significant boost of confidence for our team, and we are proud to continue working closely with the insurance sector and adapting to its needs and priorities, as we always have.”
João Dias, Principal, Armilar.
“While insurers continue to test new process automation technologies, aiming to decrease their loss ratios while increasing customer satisfaction, few solutions have the potential to become widely adopted,” comments said João Dias, Principal, Armilar. “Particularly for underwriting and claims, there are key challenges related to the heterogeneous nature of the assets (such as vehicles and properties) and the scenarios being inspected, feeding a complex pipeline of external parties and systems.
“Bdeo has successfully created an easy-to-integrate platform that brings together the latest computer vision technologies coupled with proprietary data and intelligence from third-party systems,” Dias adds. “This assures an immediate impact on the insurer’s bottom line, which has been recognized over time by Bdeo’s clients.”
Paloma Castellano, Director, Wayra Madrid.
“At Wayra, we are delighted to invest in Bdeo through Íope Ventures with our partners at Telefónica Seguros,” says Paloma Castellano, Director, Wayra Madrid. “We believe in the disruptive potential of InsurTech based on AI, which, as we know, is revolutionizing the business ecosystem and, in this case, will enable greater agility and efficiency throughout insurance operations, thus providing a better service to the end user.”
“We at K Fund believe that Bdeo’s potential goes beyond the insurance industry; its damage detection and cost estimation technology can be applied to other use cases such as vehicle fleet management or property management, use cases that the company is already making progress with,” comments Marc Clemente, Partner, K Fund. “We have no doubt that Bdeo will become one of the major references in artificial intelligence in Europe.”
Marc Clemente, Partner, K Fund.
“We’re more than happy to continue supporting Bdeo in its growth journey,” says Gabrielle Thomas, Investment Director, BlackFin Tech. “We have immense confidence in Bdeo’s team and are enthusiastic about continuing to collaborate with them on their expansion. Since day one, we have been deeply convinced of the pivotal role that Bdeo’s technology plays in empowering insurers to effectively manage claims and optimize their operational processes.”
Growing presence in over 25 Countries
Gabrielle Thomas, Investment Director, BlackFin Tech.
Bdeo reports that over 50 insurers across more than 25 countries are already using the company’s technology. Bdeo enjoys a growing presence across Latin America and Europe, particularly in countries such as Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Nordic countries, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina. Bdeo works with prominent global insurers, such as Reale, MAPFRE and Generali in Spain, Ageas in Portugal, Fidelidade in Portugal, Zurich, Allianz and BBVA in the Latin American market, and Hollard in South Africa.
Bdeo reports that, in Spain, it already manages more than 50 percent of motor insurance underwriting and works with eight of the 10 leading motor insurers in the market. In addition to accelerating its international expansion, Bdeo says it plans to continue developing its Visual Intelligence solutions to cover new use cases.
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