Stere raises $2m for digital program ecosystem, continues to target ILS capital

Insurance technology (insurtech) start-up Stere has announced a $2 million capital raise to help it better connect providers of insurance and reinsurance capacity with managing general agents, program administrators, and embedded insurance platforms.

Stere aims to help insurance programs access insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund capacity as well as traditional insurance or reinsurance, and the company was launched earlier this year by Dogan Kaleli, former Head of Program Business North America at Allianz.

Stere aims to improve speed-to-market for managing general agents (MGA’s) and program providers, enabling them to launch, get new products up and running, source additional capacity in a frictionless manner and help MGA’s and insurers through other capacity related challenges.

The insurtech raised its $2 million of funding in a round led by venture investor Fin VC, with participation from Plug and Play Ventures, Sandalphon Capital and Hartford Investment Management Company, as well as angel investors including Rob Johns, First VP, Alliant Insurance Services and Charter Board Member, TiE of Oregon, and Shamir Karkal, co-founder and CEO of Sila, Inc.

Part of Stere’s offering is its data analytics, but also in its efforts to match MGA’s with capacity that is best suited for them, while the capacity providers benefit from a “smart underwriting pipeline” for vetted MGA programs and embedded insurance opportunities through Stere’s platform.

“Matching insurance capacity seekers with capacity providers is an inefficient process that relies on outmoded conventions and technologies. Stere simplifies the process and significantly improves the chances of long-term successful partnerships,” Dogan Kaleli, CEO of Stere said. “We are delighted that our investors recognize the enormous opportunity to modernize and transform this essential process within the insurance supply chain.”

Stere has so far onboarded over 40 MGA’s representing $1.2 billion in annual premium and has closed on three embedded insurance deals.

“Stere is well positioned to succeed in a fast-growing segment of the insurance industry that is ripe for modernization,” Emy Donavan, Venture Partner of Fin explained. “The company has identified a clear need in the insurance program business, and offers an innovative, technology-driven solution. We are pleased to support Stere’s growth in this dynamic market.”

“Plug and Play is excited to invest in Stere,” added Eugenio Gonzalez, Principal of Plug and Play Ventures. “Stere is using technology to make the traditional, relationship-oriented insurance program segment more data-driven and efficient. With this investment, Stere will be in a strong position to bring much-needed change to this rapidly expanding area of the insurance industry.”

The funding round will be used to grow Stere’s staff, enhance data analytics offering, expand its footprint in the MGA and embedded insurance segments, and launch new APIs to enable improved and simpler integration between capacity seekers and providers.