Launch HN: Risklytics (YC S26) – Insurance brokerage for frontier tech companies(www.risklytics.ai)
54 pointsby AlexRisio6 days ago9 comments
  • phonon5 days ago
    How is this different than https://foundershield.com/ ?
    • AlexRisio5 days ago
      They are pretty similar as they are an insurance broker like us, but they do not specialize in hardware/hardtech which is typically more difficult to get good coverage for. We do specialize in that.
  • collinstm6 days ago
    Have you already gone through licensing and credentialing through the Division of Insurances in various states? Or are you just gauging interest at this point before the licensing steps? Asking because there is a whole E&O element on liability for you as the middleman.
    • AlexRisio6 days ago
      Thanks for asking! We are licensed in 15 states right now with the required E&O policies, and are expanding to more states in the coming weeks.
      • glitchbot5 days ago
        New Mexico?
        • SamGGold4 days ago
          No, but we'll expand to all 50 states soon. Most hardtech startups are in the 15 states we're licensed in.
  • sebmellen5 days ago
    Wow, insurance that is actually insurance. Cool approach and congrats!

    There is a certain dog-themed startup that took the approach of selling Not Insurance™ through a Risk Retention Group… I am glad to see you did not choose that approach.

  • mmayberry6 days ago
    how do you go about getting a license in a week to place those types of coverages in various states/contries? Are you a broke or MGA or something else?
    • AlexRisio5 days ago
      We are acting as a broker and took the required tests very quickly.
  • misterchocolat6 days ago
    Actually a great idea, wishing you guys success.
  • trollbridge6 days ago
    How is this different than Corgi?
    • AlexRisio6 days ago
      We focus on hardtech mainly, robotics, manufacturing, physical products. Corgi has not broken into this space as much as we hope to as these clients are typically much harder to insure than pure software companies. Also insurance is big: over $1.7 trillion dollars of premium was written last year.
      • trollbridge6 days ago
        Thank you - great response; so in other words, you can insure people that Corgi (and lots of other insurers) would eventually say "I'm sorry, but we just can't figure out how to insure you".
        • SamGGold6 days ago
          Pretty much, yea. We work to place those hard risks.
      • glitchbot5 days ago
        Medical devices, equipment? Not retail patient use but, clinic,hospital level?
    • reticulates6 days ago
      Risklytics are taking the boring, sensible approach of being a broker, modernizing the application process to broaden the type of clients that can be underwritten.

      Corgi are taking the batshit insane approach of insuring clients directly through an esoteric insurance structure that dodges regulation.

      Choosing Corgi over a typical broker is playing with fire.

      https://reticulating.substack.com/p/ycombinators-corgi-insur...

      • trollbridge6 days ago
        I'm finding Corgi so far to be really difficult to understand. The sales reps (agents?) you work with don't seem to understand common insurance industry terms, like me asking "is that actual cash value or replacement cost?" when e.g. stating a value for replacing our computers.

        I also have open questions on what paying out a claim is actually like, or what it will be like if they have to mount a defence if I were to actually get sued. Since no Corgi customers have been sued yet (as far as I can tell), the answer is "We have no idea".

        I'm not trying to be anti-Corgi, but I'm having a hard time understanding how exactly their business model is going to work long term.

        • reticulates6 days ago
          Yep, being insured by Corgi is a huge risk. The reason why Corgi is especially terrible is that the inexperienced “growth” “interns” aren’t just selling low quality insurance they don’t understand that isn’t fit for purpose, that’s bad but whatever, the problem is that every new client adds more risk to pre-existing clients! Every Corgi client is, unknowingly, taking on more and more risk every day. The insurance is, basically, decaying, and entirely reliant on Corgi being able to raise money to bail it out when things implode.

          The business model of spending hundreds of millions on marketing insurance with cafes is silly but maybe it’ll work, gotta swing for the fences, but selling insurance that could implode at a moment’s notice is grossly irresponsible. And when it implodes, it’s going to hurt thousands of YC startups.

          Risklytics will be much more expensive than Corgi but it’ll be actual reliable insurance. Anyone going with Corgi is out of their damn mind.

          • trollbridge6 days ago
            My biggest question is how I would open a claim. I can’t find a hotline number to call to open a claim (or to give to someone else who thinks they have a claim against me).
  • oliver2366 days ago
    why cant i choose axa ?
    • AlexRisio6 days ago
      Axa is a large insurer and might have the appetite for this type of risk. We use different carriers with this risk to get our clients covered.
  • massimodeluisa5 days ago
    [dead]
  • petetheguy6 days ago
    The first-customer-requires-coverage thing is the whole sale. Founders treat insurance like they treat security questionnaires: ignore it until a pilot is blocked, then they need a yes yesterday. I've sold through that motion a few times. The CAD-software denial is the same pattern as a form written for a bank. If you can get them covered without making them look like a different company, that's actually the product.