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Buying insurance has generally been a demanding and tedious experience for startups.
While this can be said for many industries, it’s especially pronounced in this case. The majority of the friction involved comes from the fact that startup founders typically are forward-looking, progressive people who understand that innovation and speed are the keys to success in the modern economy.
Unfortunately, the traditional insurance industry couldn’t be further from this description. It features complicated and obscure offerings, reliant on antiquated, paperwork-heavy processes and has generally been shielded from innovation by the necessity of its products. In this business model, most startups find themselves wasting a bunch of time on getting insured, pay more than is necessary for the privilege of being insured, and commonly end up with insufficient coverage.
However, this situation has been slowly changing. Insurance providers and outside investors have seen an opportunity and the insurance industry is in the midst of a venture-backed digital revolution – one that has been slow to get off the ground but is now making inexorable progress towards more efficient customer experiences.
If you glance at the market today, you’ll see that there are dozens of companies trying to marry insurance and technology, disrupt the industry, and offer easier and more effective coverage options to growing companies.
However, they haven’t all been successful. Furthermore, the advent of “insurtech” has meant that startups looking for insurance now have a different problem on their hands – which digital insurance provider to trust with their business and where to go to get the right insurance policies without overpaying or spending hours researching options online.
We want to help you make an informed decision when choosing insurance for your startup by comparing two leading insurtech options available for startups side by side: FounderShield and Embroker.
Insurance Brokerage vs. Insurance Provider
Embroker
Embroker has created the first-ever truly digital insurance program that’s incepted and created specifically for the needs of startups – Embroker’s Startup Program. It offers A+ rated D&O, EPLI, tech E&O, and cyber coverage that can be explained, quoted, and purchased in minutes online. These policies are all custom-built for the needs of VC-funded startups and are underwritten on the spot. Beyond these policies, Embroker’s experts and platform will streamline and manage your insurance effectively.
Pricing
Founder Shield
Founder Shield has helped many startups get the right coverage with their expertise. Their value proposition is to make getting insured easier and more convenient. However, it’s not exactly a revolutionary approach and it’s certainly not a full-blown disruption of the industry. This has resulted in the price of insurance being more or less equivalent to the traditionally available options. You’ll definitely save some time and experience a level of convenience that you wouldn’t with a traditional approach, but the prices of your policies won’t be much different through Founder Shield.
Embroker
Embroker’s Startup Program features immediate insurance underwriting and allows the entire insurance value chain to be digitized, cutting out intermediaries, and bureaucratic overheads.
This means that you can get the right coverage and that it will cost on average 20% less compared to the industry standard.
Startup Insurance Calculator
Find out how much your startup can expect to pay for key insurance coverages.
Customer Experience and Service
Founder Shield
Being an online broker means that, despite their team of top insurance experts, Founder Shield’s servicing is mostly carried out by the insurance provider that writes your business insurance policy. This can lead to confusion when you aren’t sure who to go to when a claim happens or you need to renew your insurance. Additionally, requesting changes to your policy may prove to be problematic, as the request would need to be shifted to the actual insurance provider.
Embroker
Embroker has an in-house service team for the Startup Program. The team has worked closely on building out the program and policies from scratch. This means that they’ll be able to take care of all your needs and possess the expertise to help you on the spot. However, the real advantage of Embroker’s approach is that there won’t be any gaps in responsibility or communication – there’s no one else responsible for your insurance but the Embroker team.
Embroker’s Streamlined Platform
At the core of Embroker is a cutting-edge tech platform. Embroker has managed to digitize all aspects of the insurance value chain, making your insurance easier to manage and understand. Additionally, this has allowed Embroker to remove the traditional costs of administration and underwriters, and pass those savings on to startups. Here’s why Embroker’s platform is the superior solution in the market currently:
Purchasing Insurance Made Easy
Embroker Startup Program policies are underwritten instantly – it only takes a few minutes for you to complete the whole process and be fully covered. Also, you can rest easy knowing you won’t have to reveal any sensitive information such as your equity structure or financial statements.
Easy-to-Manage Policies
Embroker’s all-in-one platform will streamline your insurance management, giving you easy and immediate control over your insurance. You’ll be able to track any claims you submit in real-time and share and request certificates of insurance instantly. This means no more tedious back-and-forth with your insurance company; you’ll have all the information available digitally.
Insurance Renewal Made Easy
With Embroker’s platform, you’ll be able to renew your insurance in just a few minutes. All your information will be securely stored in the cloud and then automatically populated on your renewal date, making renewals painless.
Insurance Made Understandable
Embroker’s platform will visually showcase your policies on easy to understand flashcards, allowing you to easily understand all the important aspects of your coverage without having to ask your broker to explain it to you.
What Does Embroker’s Platform Mean For You As an Insurance Buyer?
Embroker has a team of dedicated experts that love insurance and are ready to help you 24/7. However, the platform makes it so easy and convenient for you to buy and manage your insurance by yourself, online, and in a few minutes! Long back and forths with your broker are a thing of the past, and the pain points associated with insurance will soon be too.
What to Do Next?
We hope that this article has given you a better understanding of the differences between Founder Shield and Embroker and their respective weaknesses and strengths. If you need more help or information, you can reach out to our team of expert brokers. Or, if you want to get started right away with Emborker’s Startup Program you can get an instant quote here.
Founder Shield
Founder Shield takes the role a broker would in the traditional insurance value chain. They offer their expertise and a platform where coverage from traditional insurers can be secured and managed. While this does add value and makes insurance less of a pain for startups, it’s not necessarily the revolution the industry has been waiting for and that insurtech companies have been promising. They still have a long way to go before being able to offer a truly digital experience with policies tailor-made for startups.
Embroker
Embroker has created the first-ever truly digital insurance program that’s incepted and created specifically for the needs of startups – Embroker’s Startup Program. It offers A+ rated D&O, EPLI, tech E&O, and cyber coverage that can be explained, quoted, and purchased in minutes online. These policies are all custom-built for the needs of VC-funded startups and are underwritten on the spot. Beyond these policies, Embroker’s experts and platform will streamline and manage your insurance effectively.
Pricing
Founder Shield
Founder Shield has helped many startups get the right coverage with their expertise. Their value proposition is to make getting insured easier and more convenient. However, it’s not exactly a revolutionary approach and it’s certainly not a full-blown disruption of the industry. This has resulted in the price of insurance being more or less equivalent to the traditionally available options. You’ll definitely save some time and experience a level of convenience that you wouldn’t with a traditional approach, but the prices of your policies won’t be much different through Founder Shield.
Embroker
Embroker’s Startup Program features immediate insurance underwriting and allows the entire insurance value chain to be digitized, cutting out intermediaries, and bureaucratic overheads.
This means that you can get the right coverage and that it will cost on average 20% less compared to the industry standard.
Startup Insurance Calculator
Find out how much your startup can expect to pay for key insurance coverages.
Customer Experience and Service
Founder Shield
Being an online broker means that, despite their team of top insurance experts, Founder Shield’s servicing is mostly carried out by the insurance provider that writes your business insurance policy. This can lead to confusion when you aren’t sure who to go to when a claim happens or you need to renew your insurance. Additionally, requesting changes to your policy may prove to be problematic, as the request would need to be shifted to the actual insurance provider.
Embroker
Embroker has an in-house service team for the Startup Program. The team has worked closely on building out the program and policies from scratch. This means that they’ll be able to take care of all your needs and possess the expertise to help you on the spot. However, the real advantage of Embroker’s approach is that there won’t be any gaps in responsibility or communication – there’s no one else responsible for your insurance but the Embroker team.
Embroker’s Streamlined Platform
At the core of Embroker is a cutting-edge tech platform. Embroker has managed to digitize all aspects of the insurance value chain, making your insurance easier to manage and understand. Additionally, this has allowed Embroker to remove the traditional costs of administration and underwriters, and pass those savings on to startups. Here’s why Embroker’s platform is the superior solution in the market currently:
Purchasing Insurance Made Easy
Embroker Startup Program policies are underwritten instantly – it only takes a few minutes for you to complete the whole process and be fully covered. Also, you can rest easy knowing you won’t have to reveal any sensitive information such as your equity structure or financial statements.
Easy-to-Manage Policies
Embroker’s all-in-one platform will streamline your insurance management, giving you easy and immediate control over your insurance. You’ll be able to track any claims you submit in real-time and share and request certificates of insurance instantly. This means no more tedious back-and-forth with your insurance company; you’ll have all the information available digitally.
Insurance Renewal Made Easy
With Embroker’s platform, you’ll be able to renew your insurance in just a few minutes. All your information will be securely stored in the cloud and then automatically populated on your renewal date, making renewals painless.
Insurance Made Understandable
Embroker’s platform will visually showcase your policies on easy to understand flashcards, allowing you to easily understand all the important aspects of your coverage without having to ask your broker to explain it to you.
What Does Embroker’s Platform Mean For You As an Insurance Buyer?
Embroker has a team of dedicated experts that love insurance and are ready to help you 24/7. However, the platform makes it so easy and convenient for you to buy and manage your insurance by yourself, online, and in a few minutes! Long back and forths with your broker are a thing of the past, and the pain points associated with insurance will soon be too.
What to Do Next?
We hope that this article has given you a better understanding of the differences between Founder Shield and Embroker and their respective weaknesses and strengths. If you need more help or information, you can reach out to our team of expert brokers. Or, if you want to get started right away with Emborker’s Startup Program you can get an instant quote here.
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