Artificial Labs, an algorithmic underwriting InsurTech, has raised an £8 million Series A+ round of funding.
The investment was led by publicly listed FinTech fund Augmentum Fintech, with participation from existing investors MS&AD Ventures and FOMCAP IV.
In August 2023, London-based Artificial announced its ground-breaking Smart Follow collaboration with insurer Apollo, which has since gone live in the London Market for several lines of business including Marine Hull, General Aviation and Marine Cargo.
The company unveiled its new broker tool, Contract Builder, to the market through its strategic partnership with Lockton in the UK in late 2023 and Placing Platform Limited in January 2024, making significant strides in the Lloyd’s of London market.
Implementation with several other large London Market brokers is ongoing. The firm says the tool can be easily tailored to brokers’ requirements and generates configurable, structured and Lloyd’s Blueprint Two-compliant contracts.
Since its successful Series A funding round in June 2022, Artificial has achieved several significant milestones. The company has rapidly grown its team and bolstered its leadership with the appointments of Ascot founder Martin Reith as chairman in 2022 and, in 2023, Deana Murfitt as chief operating officer and Jen Tan as head of portfolio strategy.
“Our latest funding round is a testament to the exciting work we’re doing at Artificial,” said David King, co-CEO and co-founder. “We are thrilled to have the expertise and support of the Augmentum team and our committed existing investors on this next phase of our journey.
“This round of funding will enable us to accelerate our growth and continue to innovate in the algorithmic and augmented space. In 2024 we will further the development of our underwriting platform, exciting AI solutions and our Contract Builder product, which is already seeing great traction in the market.”
Reginald de Wasseige, principal at Augmentum Fintech, said: “We are delighted to lead Artificial’s latest investment round. We firmly believe that the era of algorithmic underwriting will redefine market dynamics in the insurance space.
“As more sophisticated ‘smart follow’ underwriters enter the London Market, we will see a significant transformation in the process of underwriting risk.
“The most adept lead underwriters, equipped with substantial auto-follow capacity, are poised to become highly sought-after by brokers seeking to place business. We look forward to working with David, Johnny and the entire Artificial team for this next phase of their journey.
“Our investment is a testament to our confidence in their vision and execution capabilities.”