Using open data and AI to improve underwriting, Continuity raises €5 million in seed round

Paris-based Continuity has raised €5 million in seed funding in order to continue the development of its assistant for insurance underwriters, helping them deliver to SMEs smarter and faster. Using a combination of AI and open data, the platform detects insurance contracts that are either outdated or invalid. In order to support the continued development of the platform, Continuity intends to create 30 new positions, extend to new product lines including agriculture and fleet, and introduce a new offering for specialist brokers and MGAs to facilitate delegation of underwriting.

Created in 2019 and fostered by venture builder Kamet Ventures, Continuity currently works access four product lines, including professional indemnity, commercial property, construction workers insurance, and directors and officers liability. Since employing the service, the startup has found that 10% to 15% of contracts analysed have put SMEs at risk, namely due to an automatic renewal of a policy (a tacit renewal) or through inaccurate initial underwriting declarations.

“When we started looking into how P&C insurance was underwritten, we were astonished to discover how outdated and limited the tools available to underwriters were,” commented founder and CEO Benoit Pastorelli. “We encountered multiple systems with unnecessary layers of complexity and very limited scope to improve or speed up processes.”

Continuity is able to provide clients including AXA France, Hiscox France, and MMA with over 100 risk insights per SME within their portfolio, and has processed more than 500,000 contracts worth more than €1.5 billion to date. This analysis has helped insurers preempt any large claims due to early identification of risks as well as generate several million euros in additional premiums.

Continuity’s seed funding was provided by Elaia Partners, Bpifrance, and Kamet Ventures.

“We believe Continuity is chasing a massive opportunity to become a cornerstone of insurers’ underwriting process. Their AI platform delivers both speed and precision and is already being used by large insurance companies to adjust risk profiles and premiums,” explained Elaia’s Sébastien Lefebvre. “We’re excited to see how strongly Continuity can impact the performance of insurers and support them in the digital transformation of key processes.”