Artificial intelligence-powered cybersecurity insurance provider Cowbell Cyber Inc. announced today that it has raised $100 million in new funding.

The new funding will be used to increase its investment in data science, underwriting, risk engineering and claims management, expand go-to-market channels and support Cowbell Re, the company’s reinsurance captive unit.

Anthemis Group led the Series B round with Permira, PruVen Capital, NYCA Partners, Viola Fintech and previous investors also participating. Including the new funding, the company has raised $123.6 million to date, according to data from Crunchbase.

Founded in 2019, Cowbell Cyber offers vertically integrated cyber insurance for small and midsized enterprises. Using an AI-based approach to risk selection and pricing, Cowbell’s continuous underwriting platform, powered by Cowbell Factors, compresses the insurance process from submission to issue to less than five minutes.

Cowbell Cyber’s approach amasses data from numerous external sources such as threat databases and dark web catalogs and combines it with the information provided by the insured companies through security aggregators. This is combined with data from third parties that capture customers’ log data to detect anomalies.

The company addresses a serious problem in an often underserved market — cyberattacks on small to medium-sized enterprises. Their service, optimized to find the best price and coverage for SMEs, also comes at a time that cybersecurity premiums are rapidly rising amid the rise in cyberattacks.

Cowbell estimates that cyber insurance in-force premiums in the U.S. will total $100 billion by 2030. One in five U.S. SMEs remains uninsured or underinsured for cyber risk, presenting Cowbell with an unprecedented opportunity to lead this underserved market segment.

The company claims to have developed the largest cyber insurance distribution network in the U.S. with more than 14,000 producers and has grown its monitored risk pool to more than 23 million businesses – 70% of the U.S. SME market. In 2021, Cowbell’s gross written premium grew 40 times while loss experience has remained among the lowest in the industry, driven by continued focus on underwriting discipline. The company plans to triple its policyholder base in 2022.

“Since its 2019 inception, Cowbell has delivered on its promise to meet the needs of our policyholders by aligning cyber coverage to their specific exposures, continuously monitoring their rapidly changing threat landscape, and offering access to unique risk mitigation resources,” Jack Kudale, founder and chief executive officer at Cowbell Cyber, said in a statement. “As we position ourselves to lead the ‘second wave’ of cyber insurance growth, this funding will accelerate our pioneering approach to cyber risk underwriting and drive growth and profitability while closing insurability gaps.”

Cowbell Insurance Agency is currently licensed in 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Cowbell Reinsurance Co. is a licensed insurance captive in the State of Vermont.

Image: Cowbell Cyber