Venture investors are now attracted to the cyber insurance sector.

Cowbell Cyber, an insurtech, focuses on providing small and medium enterprises with AI-powered insurance against cyberattacks. The company announced Thursday its close of a Series A funding of $20 million led by Brewer Lane Ventures. Pivot Investment Partners, Avanta Ventures, Markel Corporation, and existing investors ManchesterStory, Tri-Valley Ventures, and Holmes Murphy also participated. (CISION PRNewswire)

Fast-paced growth

Cowbell Cyber provides cyber insurance cover up to $15 million to businesses having less than $1 billion in revenue.

This month the startup achieved a network of 4,500+ trusted insurance agency partners and a premium run-rate growth of 1595% over the past 6 months.

That makes Cowbell Cyber the fastest-growing cyber insurance provider in the industry.

Cyber insurance as a market is expected to grow 4X from 2018 to about $20 billion in 2025.

The company distributes its policies using a 100% online approach with no paper-based processes involved. Agents and brokers can therefore customize quotes in a few clicks and issue policies in minutes.

“Cowbell embraces AI and machine learning to gain efficiency and accuracy when assessing and underwriting cyber risk while focusing on the fundamental needs of our policyholders: keeping their businesses protected from evolving cyber threats,” said Jack Kudale, Founder and CEO.

Pandemic triggers a digital shift and more vulnerabilities

The pandemic forced upon businesses accelerated digitization and an ever-changing threat landscape.

According to Cowbell, the threat environment has intensified and business interruptions that result from ransomware attacks are up 20% and last up to 19 days.

These unfortunate events can lead to a complete shutdown of the business.

“Cowbell Cyber’s closed-loop approach to cyber risk bundles cybersecurity awareness training, continuous risk assessment, and pre and post-breach risk improvement services,” the company said. “Its cyber policies empower policyholders to be proactive about managing cyber risks.”

Use of funds

Cowbell will use the new funds for product development, sales and marketing, and expanding its risk engineering.

According to Crunchbase, the company will use the funding to expand its workforce of 40 persons to around 90 by the end of the year.

Currently, the company is represented in only 38 states. It intends to reach out to more states in the future.

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