6th December 2017, London, UK. Artificial intelligence company, Cytora, has today announced a £4.4 million funding round with investors including Starr Global Holdings, QBE Ventures, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Cambridge Enterprise, Parkwalk Advisors, and an array of angel investors including Ilkka Paananen, CEO of Supercell, and Paul Foster, co-founder of Indeed.com.
The new funding comes as the company prepares to deploy its Risk Engine internationally across property and casualty lines with a core group of insurers. Cytora’s Risk Engine transforms the way insurers select, target and price risk by applying artificial intelligence to identify patterns of good and bad risks over time. These insights enable insurers to achieve improved loss ratios and premium growth while delivering more accurate and fair prices to customers.
For the past year, Cytora has been working selectively with a consortium of commercial insurers to embed its technology. These insurers, including QBE, XL Catlin, and Starr, have gained early access to Cytora’s Risk Engine prior to the technology becoming available to the wider market.
The new funding round will be dedicated to fuelling expansion and growth, increasing data science and engineering capacity to establish Cytora as the market-leading AI solution for the commercial insurance industry.
“Cytora’s technology opens up significant
opportunities for the insurance industry. We are proud to be supported by pioneering technologists and leading insurers that share our vision for a new standard in risk selection and pricing that is underpinned by objective data and machine intelligence. The calibre of our investors and advisory board is a testament to our team, our technology and the scale of our vision.”
said, “This is an incredibly innovative use of the ubiquitous open source data available. Combining external information with our own internal intelligence gives a more complete view of a risk which in turn enables QBE to provide protection to our customers at a fairer price that reflects the true level of exposure. The partnership with Cytora enables us to accelerate the adoption of advanced analytics in our business and complements the expertise we have been developing in-house.”
“Cytora’s technology has broader application beyond risk scoring and will enable us to identify attractive areas that match our risk appetite and expertise but where we are currently underrepresented. This will assist us to focus our efforts on the customer relationships where we can add greatest value.”
said, “Cytora allows insurers to gain access to information and insights that have traditionally been out of reach and we are incredibly excited to partner with them as they accelerate their growth and expansion.”
said, “We are excited to be partnering with Cytora as they continue to expand and bring their advanced analytical capabilities to the insurance industry. With ever-increasing levels of available data, we can really see the benefits that artificial intelligence and other similar technological advances bring to the industry. We believe that Cytora can use this information in a powerful way to provide a competitive edge to Starr and its other clients.”
said, “Cytora is an exciting company based on ideas created in Cambridge but with global applications. It has taken technology developed at the University of Cambridge, has been mentored at the University’s Judge Business School and has been provided with seed funding by Cambridge Enterprise, the University’s commercialisation arm. Here at CIC we are delighted to support the company as it starts the next stage of its growth.”
said, “I was extremely impressed with Richard’s vision, and the way he thinks about building his company and its culture. I believe he and his team have everything it takes to build a very successful, global business. They truly have an opportunity to set a new standard for the insurance industry globally.”
Cytora
Emma Mayer
T: +44 74 9576 5382
Cytora is an artificial intelligence company powering a new way for commercial insurers to target, select and price risk. With the Cytora Risk Engine, insurers can measurably grow premium and reduce loss ratios, while delivering more accurate prices to customers. Cytora is backed by leading venture capital, global insurance companies and builders of some of the world’s most successful technology companies including Funding Circle, Risk Management Solutions, Indeed.com, and Swiftkey.
For more information please visit www.cytora.com.
