Insurtech At-Bay uses heuristics to asses cyber risk
Insurtech At-Bay is using heuristics - the ability to adjust data-points in real time - to determine levels of cyber risk. The start-up assesses risk based on future predictions, a departure from the traditional method of determining cyber risk exposure, which usually makes use of analysing past incidents of security breaches. The firm has now raised $6m from a group of investors led by LightSpeed Venture Partner. The insurtech is able to bring insurance policies to market due to its primary backer being Munich Re’s Hartford Steam Boiler. 

At-Bay, a new insurance company startup focused on cyber insurance and related risk management, came out of stealth mode on Nov. 17 with news of $6 million in seed venture funding.

LightSpeed Venture Partners led the round, with participation from Shlomo Kramer and LocalGlobe. Munich Re’s Hartford Steam Boiler is a primary backer of the startup, and the two have partnered to bring a cyber risk insurance product to market.

David Mercier, senior vice president for HSB, said that his company is “very excited about working with At-Bay.”

“At-Bay’s data- and knowledge-driven business model aligns with HSB’s own system of managing and underwriting cyber risk,” Mercier said in prepared remarks. “Their offering truly leverages the strengths of both companies.”

At-Bay describes its model as a new way of measuring risk by using in-depth risk research blended with an ability to adjust risk models in real time based on future expectations (known as heuristics). This goes beyond traditional methods of legacy insurance carriers, which use historical data to predict future risk. At-Bay said it also monitors risk continuously. The startup asserts that its methodology helps give clients an updated and future-forward assessment of risk.

“We match deep insights on a company’s IT security with financial exposure that cyber attack vectors create to enable insurance brokers and risk managers to more clearly and accurately assess and manage cyber risk,” At-Bay CEO and founder Rotem Iram said in prepared remarks. “Our insurance products and supporting risk management services provide organizations with the confidence that they can take on the challenges of tomorrow.”

California-based At-Bay also has a component for brokers, a digital platform that the startup says is intuitive and combines its insurance product with risk insights. This means that brokers are able to have more insightful discussions with clients about issues including security and financial exposure, case studies, and benchmark data, At-Bay said. The idea here, according to the company, is that “fast, digital and collaborative applications make for a low-friction sales process.”

Before At-Bay, Iram was chief operating officer for K2 Intelligence, a cybersecurity practice based in Israel. He also has prior experience as a consultant with McKinsey & Co., as a software engineer with RAD Data Communication and as head of the Techno-Intelligence Group for the Israel Defense Forces, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Source: At-Bay