(Image source: Zelros homepage.)
Zelros, a Paris based InsurTech provider offering an AI-driven platform dedicated to advancing insurance distribution, has announced the close of an $11 Million Series A financing round, bringing the company’s total funding to date to $16.5M. Silicon Valley-based BGV (Palo Alto, Calif./Tel Aviv) led the round with new participation from ISAI Cap Venture and Plug and Play. Historical investors HI INOV, 42CAP and astorya.vc also participated in the round. The company will use the funding to scale operations across Europe and expand into North America.
Seth Rachlin, Global Head, P&C Insurance, Capgemini.
The Zelros AI business platform offers insurers, bancassurers, and policyholders a more efficient, fluid, and personalized way to distribute and receive products and services, according to a vendor statement. Zelros says the platform continuously learns, adapts, and improves its capabilities in real-time, offering insurance advisors and agents a streamlined and semi-automated experience from product/service needs discovery and sales to underwriting. The platform allows insurers to offer policyholders fully automated, advisor-free subscription options, enables incumbent industry leaders to compete with both fast-growth, technology-first insurance startups and tech behemoths heavily investing in InsurTech, the vendor adds.
“Digital transformation is fundamentally changing how businesses operate, and with InsurTech funding reaching an all-time high of $7.1 billion in 2020, the insurance industry is no exception,” comments Christophe Bourguignat, co-founder and CEO, Zelros. “At Zelros, we focus one hundred percent of our attention on developing AI-driven technology to improve and advance the insurance industry. We’re passionate about helping insurance players transform into technology-first companies, and the support of BGV, Capgemini, and all of our investors will empower us to accomplish our mission.”
Christophe Bourguignat, co-founder and CEO, Zelros.
Following a $5.5 Million seed round of fundraising in 2018, Zelros reports that it has experienced two consecutive years of triple-digit revenue growth, expanded its operations across three countries, and grown its team by over 350 percent to 50 employees. In 2020, Zelros says its software reviewed over 20 million policyholder-specific situations and issued over two million personalized recommendations. The company currently works with 15 of the leading insurance providers in Europe, including BPCE, AXA, Crédit Agricole, MAIF, La Banque Postale, AssurOne, +Simple, across property/casualty and life insurance business lines. Zelros says it also works closely with insurance regulators to promote usage of fair and transparent AI, and has published its own open standard for ethical, enterprise-grade AI to pave the way in this field.
Zelros reports that co-founder and COO, Damien Philippon, will relocate and launch the company’s Montreal-based North American headquarters in Q3 2021. The company plans to hire five full-time employees at its North American location by the end of the year.
Immediate Business Value
“Zelros is using AI to improve traditional insurance-industry standards and deliver immediate business value and ROI improvements for its customers,” says Eric Buatois, general partner, BGV. “Their solution is helping insurance professionals to be more efficient and integrates smoothly into existing workflows while providing transparency on the final recommendation. This is exactly what we look for in the Enterprise 4.0 startups we invest in.”
Eric Buatois, General Partner, BGV.
“At BGV, our expertise lies in sourcing the best startups in hubs outside of the valley and helping them scale up globally,” Buatois adds. “We’re thrilled to work together with Zelros to build their business in Europe, North America, and beyond.”
The COVID pandemic and the digital revolution have forced insurers across the globe to rethink how they sell, according to Seth Rachlin, global head of property and casualty insurance, Capgemini. “Even those who rely on agents and brokers to make the sale recognize the power of technology to enhance the productivity and effectiveness of the people who represent their brand,” he says. “Zelros brings a powerful AI-based capability to the insurance sales process. Its machine learning engine identifies upsell and cross-sell opportunities at the point of customer interaction empowering agents to recommend the right insurance product to the right customer at the right time.”
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