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§ Private Profile · 40 CO-67, Woodland Park, CO 80863, USA
Insurtech company enabling SaaS platforms, franchises, and associations to create and sell embedded commercial insurance products.
Authentic Insurance is a New York-based insurtech company that provides embedded insurance infrastructure enabling software platforms, franchises, and associations to create and sell captive commercial insurance products. The business-to-business platform functions as an end-to-end program manager that handles underwriting, claims processing, and complex reinsurance operations for its various corporate partners. By utilizing this integrated system, vertical software vendors and industry groups can offer tailored policies, such as general liability coverage, to small and medium-sized businesses while earning a proportional share of the underwriting profits. The enterprise has raised $16.5 million in total venture funding to date, which includes an $11 million Series A round led by FirstMark Capital and a $5.5 million seed round backed by Slow Ventures, Altai Ventures, and Commerce Ventures. Authentic Insurance was officially founded in 2022 by Cole Riccardi.
Authentic Insurance has raised $17.0M across 2 funding rounds.
Authentic Insurance has raised $17.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Authentic Insurance has raised $17.0M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $11.0M Series A in May 2024.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 29, 2024 | $11M Series A | Adam Nelson | Altai Ventures, Commerce Ventures, MGV, Slow Ventures, Upper90 | Announced |
| Sep 1, 2023 | $6M Seed | Slow Ventures | Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Gotham GAL Ventures, Oyster Ventures, YES VC, Justin Mateen, Altai Ventures, Clocktower Technology Ventures, Commerce Ventures, Core Innovation Capital, Marc Schrder, Mischief, Upper90 | Announced |
Authentic Insurance is a New York-based insurtech startup founded in 2022 that provides a turnkey platform—"captive in a box"—enabling SaaS platforms, associations, vertical software companies, and affinity groups to launch their own captive insurance programs.[1][2][3][5] Captive insurance, a self-insurance model used by 90% of Fortune 500 companies, allows these groups to offer tailored coverage to small businesses like those in fitness, salons, retail, food and beverage, and professional services, capturing commissions, underwriting profits, and dividends while simplifying setup from months to days.[1][2][4] Serving clients such as Mindbody, Restaurant365, theCut, and PushPress, Authentic has raised $16.5M in funding, including an $11M Series A led by FirstMark Capital, and now supports over ten platforms with minimal integration via a single line of code for one-click, branded policies.[2][3][5][6]
The platform handles underwriting, regulatory compliance, pricing, actuarial analysis, reinsurance, claims management, and customer service, backed by A-rated carriers like Everspan and AmTrust, democratizing access to captives traditionally reserved for large enterprises.[2][3][5]
Authentic was founded in 2022 by Cole Riccardi, CEO with prior experience at Amazon and Next Insurance, alongside a team of insurance and tech experts from Aquiline, Canary, and other firms.[1][3][5][6] Riccardi's idea emerged from observing a horse stable's effective captive insurance program, inspiring him to reimagine the model for small businesses facing high costs and complexity in traditional insurance.[6] After over a year building infrastructure—including reinsurance partnerships, capital setup, and pricing tools—the company launched, quickly securing partnerships and going live with platforms serving 60,000+ small businesses.[2][6]
Backed by $5M initially from investors like Slow Ventures, followed by $11M Series A from FirstMark, Slow Ventures, Altai Ventures, and others, Authentic evolved from waitlist fulfillment to rapid scaling, helping affinity groups launch custom programs in hours.[1][2][3][5]
Authentic rides the embedded insurance wave in insurtech 2.0, shifting from lead-gen or agency models to full captive ownership where SaaS/associations capture profits, fueled by fronting carriers, captive legislation, reinsurance appetite, and insurtech learnings.[2][4][5] Timing aligns with SMB insurance gaps—D2C struggles and broker neglect of small premiums—positioning Authentic's "direct-to-group" affinity model as a solution amid rising demand for holistic vertical SaaS suites.[4]
It influences the ecosystem by empowering software platforms (e.g., Restaurant365) to monetize insurance natively, sharing risk data for better pricing, and expanding captives beyond Fortune 500s, potentially disrupting $100B+ SMB commercial insurance with community-sourced efficiency.[1][2][4]
Authentic is poised to scale beyond initial verticals like fitness and salons, targeting broader SMB communities and individuals as platform maturity grows, with trends like AI-driven underwriting and regulatory easing accelerating adoption.[4][5][6] Expect deeper integrations in vertical SaaS, more reinsurance partnerships, and potential international expansion, evolving its influence from niche enabler to mainstream insurtech infrastructure amid fragmented SMB insurance.
This positions Authentic as a transformative force, fulfilling its founding vision of making captive benefits ubiquitous for small businesses.
Authentic Insurance has raised $17.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Authentic Insurance's investors include Adam Nelson, Altai Ventures, Commerce Ventures, MGV, Slow Ventures, Upper90, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Gotham Gal Ventures, Oyster Ventures, Yes VC, Justin Mateen.