Based in Boston, insurtech start-up Corvus describes itself as a broker-friendly InsurTech MGA, offering Smart Commercial Insurance™. While a relative newcomer to the Boston Insurtech community, the company already has launched two major products in addition to being featured in an in-depth article by The Boston Globe.
As one of the two “Start-up Stories” scheduled to speak at the Insurtech Boston event, Agency Checklists got in touch with Founder Phil Edmundson, to learn more about this local company. Mr. Edmundson was kind enough to share this “preview” of Corvus’ story in anticipation of their presentation.
Thank you for speaking with us. Could you introduce our readers to Corvus Insurance and explain the inspiration behind its formation?
After selling my insurance brokerage businesses in the US and Europe by 2015, I dug into what we now call InsurTech. I visited with over 100 start-ups and invested in many early-stage InsurTechs like Cover Wallet and Verifly. By the end of 2016, I became convinced that great technology was not getting to middle market commercial customers. Generally, that is the opportunity Corvus seeks to address. We have built a great data platform called the CrowBar™ where we turn previously ignored data into risk scores that predict and prevent commercial insurance claims.
Has Corvus Insurance officially launched? What products is currently offering? Where does it currently operate?
As a tech-enabled InsurTech founded in 2017, Corvus operates out of the Innovation District of Boston with a dozen software and four insurance pros on the team. We have two products in the market nationally.
The first, fully launched, is Smart Cargo™ Insurance – we take data from temperature sensors on Food and Pharma shipments and use it to underwrite, manage claims and subrogation, and provide digital loss control. For this cover, we give broader coverage than is available in the market for those risks with high-temperature stability scores. It is the first Commercial IoT [Internet of Things] insurance product in the world.
The second, Smart Cyber™ Insurance is in beta; it uses data from non-intrusive scans of web traffic. Again, we create a novel risk score, better manage claims, and provide unprecedented loss control insights, all digitally.
As you referenced about, you worked in insurance prior to starting Corvus Insurance. Could you tell us more about your insurance career?
I co-founded and ran Commercial Insurance Brokers in the US and Europe that focused on serving technology companies—software, internet, life science, renewable energy, Medtech, and Fintech.
What would you say is the most important takeaway for our readers regarding Corvus Insurance?
Insurtech requires not just great market insights, and great technologists, but also experienced insurance execs in order to succeed.
In addition to you, who else from Corvus will be attending Insurtech Boston?
Our CTO, Jaimie McElhiney and our Head of Operations. Mike Lloyd, both my co-founders at Corvus. They are amazing!
How can interested individuals contact Corvus for more information?
Any insurance professional interested in getting in touch can contact us via our website, CorvusInsurance, or by emailing me at pedmundson@corvusinsurance.com
Is there anything else about Corvus that our readers should know?
We are hiring!
