InsurTech has long captured the attention of the broader financial technology community as well as insurance industry. In 2019 alone, funding to companies in the space reached $4.4 billion in the first three quarters of the year, markedly higher than the full year total of 2018. We anticipate that the importance of and interest in InsurTech will continue to grow and as such we have taken a close look at the top performing companies and executives that comprise the space.
We are pleased to announce The Top 25 InsurTech Executives of 2019. Selection to the list was based on a thorough review of each individual's track record and demonstrated expertise in InsurTech. We also factored in company caliber and milestones achieved as well as each individual's historical and current career accomplishments.
1. Dan Manges, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Root Insurance
In 2015, Dan Manges co-founded mobile technology-powered car insurance carrier Root Insurance with the goal of providing customers with car insurance rates based on driving behavior rather than demographics. As CTO, Dan spearheads Root Insurance’s effort to utilize smartphone technology to measure driving behavior. Over the past four years, he has helped lead to company to raising over $500 million in venture capital on a $3.65 billion valuation.
Before helping to co-found Root Insurance, Dan was the founding Chief Technology Officer at credit card payment tool provider Braintree and helped guide the firm on its journey from merchant services company to technology company. Dan also spent time as a Senior Consultant to ThoughtWorks after beginning his career as a software developer at JPMorgan Chase.
2. Priscilla Hung, Chief Operating Officer at Guidewire Software
As Chief Operating Officer at insurance industry platform provider Guidewire Software, Priscilla Hung is responsible for overseeing all of the company’s worldwide operations—from product development, cloud operations and corporate and product strategy to alliances, customer support and information systems technology and security. Priscilla was one of the company’s first hires in 2005, and she assumed her current role after holding a variety of positions at Guidewire: Vice President of Operations, Vice President of Alliances and Corporate Development, senior Vice President of Operations and Corporate Develop and Chief Administrative Officer.
Priscilla’s background prior to joining Guidewire includes extensive enterprise software experience at public companies and startups alike. She came to Guidewire from Ariba, where she was Director of Operations and Director of Global Channels and Alliances. Priscilla also spent time in channel, business development and product marketing positions at Sun Microsystems, Pyramid/Siemens Nixdorf, Oracle and Uniface/Compuware. She received her Master's in Engineering in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Cornell University.
3. Peter Licursi, Chief Revenue Officer at Zipari
In his role as Chief Revenue Officer at health insurance consumer experience technology provider Zipari, Peter Licursi brings over 25 years of sales and management experience to help the company revolutionize the customer experience in the health insurance industry. He has been charged with growing efficient, predictable revenue for the company and turning the company’s vision into a long-term actionable strategy—and his results speak to his success. Since joining Zipari in 2015, Peter has rapidly expanded the company’s reach from 150,000 members to more than 10 million.
Peter’s most recent experience prior to joining Zipari was as Vice President of Sales at Entuity, a position he held for 10 years; he previously held the same position at Merrill Corporation. Farther back in his career, Peter held senior roles in sales at BMC Software, Intershop Communications, Netlogic and Apple. Peter received his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Iona College.
4. Shai Wininger, Co-Founder, President and Chief Operating Officer at Lemonade
Veteran tech entrepreneur Shai Wininger co-founded Lemonade, the world’s first peer-to-peer insurance company, in 2015 with the goal of utilizing artificial intelligence, behavioral economics and chatbots to provide insurance policies and handle user claims without employing insurance brokers. In conjunction with co-founder and CEO Daniel Schreiber, Shai has helped expand Lemonade’s renter and home insurance offerings to users in 20 states while raising more than $120 million from outside investors in the past four years.
Shai co-founded Lemonade following his first major entrepreneurial success with Fiverr, the world’s largest marketplace for digital services which he founded in 2009. Over the course of his career, Shai also founded industrial grade analytics and control platform Mobideo Aerospace, mobile licensing platform Handsmart Software and VR web browser company Trimus Inc. He graduated from Israel’s Neri Bloomfield Academy of Design and Education.
5. Meghan Joyce, Chief Operating Officer at Oscar Health
As Chief Operating Officer at technology-focused health insurer Oscar Health, Meghan Joyce is tasked with several key responsibilities including building, scaling and spearheading Oscar’s operations. She is also charged with partnering with CEO Mario Schlosser in order to ensure that the company achieves long-term strategic growth.
Meghan came to Oscar from Uber, where she most recently served as Regional General Manager. In this role, she supervised rider and driver experiences and business outcomes in cities across the country, with a P&L under management that increased 10,000 times over during her tenure. Meghan also served as Senior Policy Advisor for the U.S. Department of the Treasury and spent time at Bain & Company as both an investor and a consultant. Meghan received her M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and her Bachelor of Arts in History of Science from Harvard College, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
6. Scott Walchek, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Trōv
Serial entrepreneur Scott Walchek founded Trōv—touted as the world’s first on-demand insurance platform—in 2012 with the goal of meeting customers’ insurance needs where they live, work and move. The company’s app allows users to insure individual items with “micro-duration policies” that can be toggled on and off by partnering with insurance carriers based on geographic region. To date, Scott has led Trōv through several successful financing rounds with over $85 million in total funding to date.
Scott’s success with Trōv is based on his over 20 years of experience building technology companies, from his most recent venture as founder and CEO of DebtMarket to earlier ventures with C2B Technology and venture capital fund Integrity Partners. Scott was also a key lead investor in Baidu’s IPO, the most successful foreign IPO in NASD history.
7. Jeremy Jawish, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Shift Technology
In 2013, Jeremy Jawish helped co-found Paris-based insurance fraud detection and claims automation company Shift Technology. Alongside co-founder Eric Sibony, Jeremy was drawn to form Shift after observing the inefficiencies in manual fraud detection during his time at a major French insurer. As CEO, Jeremy has led Shift’s efforts to automate this insurance fraud detection process to great success. The company now has officers in Boston, Toronto, Tokyo, Singapore, London, Madrid, Zurich and Hong Kong in addition to its Paris headquarters, has raised more than $100 million in funding and boasts a client roster of 70 insurers globally—including its first U.S. commercial insurance client, CNA.
Prior to helping found Shift, Jeremy was a Strategist at Goldman Sachs specializing in FICC-Exotic Volatility Inflation. He also helped insurer AXA develop a fraud detection solution based on statistics and social network analysis. Jeremy received his Master of Science in Probability and Finance from Université Pierre et Marie Curie as well as his Master of Science in Financial Mathematics from Ecole Polytechnique.
8. Francois de Lame, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at PolicyGenius
Francois de Lame co-founded independent online insurance marketplace PolicyGenius with CEO Jennifer Fitzgerald in 2014 with the goal of providing users with personalized quotes, side-by-side comparisons of tailored policies and comprehensive insurance solutions for all of a user’s needs without going through an insurance agent. In the past five years, Francois has helped PolicyGenius establish itself and raise more than $52 million in venture capital towards the aim of making the company a one-stop-shop for financial protection.
Before he founded PolicyGenius, Francois was a senior associate at management consultant McKinsey & Company, where he focused on insurance companies, strategy, marketing and the public sector. He also served as Chief Marketing Officer for online recruiting website Identified and as Trade Marketing Manager for multinational beverage company SABMiller. Francois received his M.B.A. from Harvard University and his Bachelor of Business Science in Economics and Finance from the University of Cape Town, where he graduated with honors.
9. Bob Sheehy, Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Bright Health
When Bob Sheehy helped found next-generation consumer-driven health insurance company Bright Health in 2016, he brought over three decades of deep healthcare industry experience to the venture. This experience has helped Bob guide Bright Health towards achieving its mission of providing a more connected healthcare experience while also remaining simple and affordable. By focusing on business development and strategy, Bob has led Bright Health to be named one of Forbes’ Next Billion-Dollar Startups in 2017—a mark it nearly achieved last year after raising $200 million at a $950 million valuation.
Prior to Bright Health, Bob spent eight years advising venture capital and private equity firms on the healthcare industry. This came after he spent more than two decades at healthcare giant UnitedHealth Group, culminating in his becoming CEO in 2000. Bob received both his undergraduate and master’s degree from the University of Michigan.
10. Julian Teicke, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Wefox Group
Career entrepreneur Julian Teicke had a clear mission when he founded Wefox Group in 2015: reinvent insurance distribute while also reinventing the insurance experience. The Berlin-based insurtech startup is responsible for both the consumer-facing insurance app and carrier One and the insurance platform Wefox. In just four years, Julian has done much to meet this mission. The company now boasts more than 450,000 customers as Europe’s number on insurtech firm and has successful raised more than $150 million from investors to date.
While Wefox’s success is significant, the company is not Julian’s first; the entrepreneur has founded six other companies in the past nine years, including DeinDeal AG, Docterly, HeartSpace and OrgOS. Julian attended the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, where he received his B.A. in Business Management.
11. Yashish Dahiya, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at PolicyBazaar
Yashish Dahiya, the current CEO of Indian insurance aggregator PolicyBazaar, co-founded the company in 2008 to help Indian consumers effectively compare and purchase insurance policies. In the decade since, Yashish has led PolicyBazaar to achieve rapid adoption and incredible growth. Today, more than a quarter of all Indian life insurance plans go through the platform, as does over seven percent of the country’s retail health insurance business. This success has not gone unnoticed by investors, either; the company recently raised $238 million from SoftBank on a $1 billion+ valuation.
Before turning to the entrepreneurial side with PolicyBazaar, Yashish was CEO of global online insurance broker First Europa; in this role, he was responsible for leading the company’s global expansion across nine geographical markets. He also served as Managing Director for leading pan-European online travel aggregator ebors.com. Yashish began his career as Management Consultant at Bain & Co. and a Business Unit Head at Illinois Tools Works. He received his Bachelor’s in Engineering from IIT Delhi and his M.B.A. form INSEAD.
12. Benjamin Clarke, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Bold Penguin
As co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of insurtech innovator Bold Penguin, Benjamin Clarke has sought to “build out the next generation of commercial insurance products and features.” However, unlike many other new insurance exchanges that seek to eliminate the insurance agent, Benjamin and his co-founder, CEO Ilya Bodner, have looked to enhance the independent agency system and reduce the friction in the insurance buying process between business, agents and carriers—and the company has raised a total of $50 million in the process.
Benjamin has established himself as a career entrepreneur. Immediately prior to founding Bold Penguin, he served as president and CTO of “marketing engineering” agency The Shipyard, a company he co-founded in 2009. Benjamin also helped found cloud application developer BlueChip Applications and entry-level-focused recruiting company LifeAgora. He received his B.S. in Molecular Genetics from Ohio State University.
13. Tim Attia, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Slice Labs
On-demand insurance cloud platform provider Slice Labs’ co-founder and CEO Tim Attia launched the company in 2015 with a clear mission: change, improve and redesign insurance. Under Tim’s leadership, Slice Labs pioneered a suite of on-demand insurance products geared toward gig entrepreneurs. More recently, the company’s Insurance Cloud Services (ICS) are helping to modernize traditional insurers by providing them with the tools and platform necessary to make the leap to become digital insurers.
Prior to founding Slice Labs, Tim served as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for insurance industry digital distribution platform BOLT Solutions, where he was responsible for sales, marketing and business development. Earlier in his career, he held senior positions at Exigen Insurance Solutions, Camilion Solutions, Ajengo and CGI Group. Tim attended Canada’s McGill University, where he received his Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering.
14. Sebastián Villarroel, Co-Founder & Chief Information Officer at Coya AG
Together with Andrew Shaw and Peter Hagen, Sebastián Villarroel founded Berlin-based digital insurance tech startup Coya AG in 2016. In his role as Chief Informational Officer, Sebastián is responsible for managing and overseeing the technological direction of the company. He helps spearhead projects crucial for Coya’s IP development as the insurance startup aims to become Europe’s leading digital insurer.
Before his entrepreneurial turn, Sebastián was Head of Business Intelligence and Analytics at security software company ZenGuard. He also served as Team Lead for Business Intelligence and Finance at German online lender Kreditech as well as spending five years in data governance and data quality at Allianz Global Corporate Specialty. Sebastián received his degree in Industrial Engineering from Pontificia Universidad Católica De Valparaíso.
15. Chris Reynolds, Chairman and Co-Founder at BriteCore
Chris Reynolds co-founded enterprise-level insurance processing software company BriteCore in 2004. Since then, he has helped shepherd the company through the initial creation of its insurance processing suite to its current position as 288 on the Inc. 500 list, first as Chief Operating Officer and now as Chairman.
Prior to helping found BriteCore, Chris was a network administrator at Midwest Financial Networks. He graduated from Missouri State University with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems and Business and received his certification in “Leading Change in Complex Organizations” from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Chris was also the recipient of the NAMIC Service Award in 2011 as well as the “Governor’s Missouri Entrepreneur of the Year” award from Governor Jay Nixon.
16. Manuel Kester, Chief Operating Officer at simplesurance
As Chief Operating Officer at Berlin-based insurance service platform simplesurance, Manuel Kester is responsible for a wide range of tasks central to the company’s success, from steering product development and UX and managing partner success and client integration to overseeing performance marketing and business development technology and processes. Manuel has held this position since he joined the company in 2014.
Before simplesurance, Manuel was a managing director at advertising agency YOC Mobile Advertising, where he was responsible for strategic product development and operational management. He also served as CEO and General Manager of affiliate market network Belboon for five years. Manuel received his degree in business engineering from Helmut Schmidt Universität as well as his Master’s in Business Administration from FernUniversität in Hagen.
17. Nissim Tapiro, Co-Founder and Vice President, Research & Development at Next Insurance
As Co-Founder and Vice President of Research and Development, Nissim Tapiro has been integral in helping online small business insurance provider Next Insurance achieve its goal of transforming the insurance experience for small businesses. In his role as Vice President of R&D, Nissim has helped expand the company’s product offerings to over 1,000 different and unique business types to great success. Indeed, the three-year-old startup recently became one of the country’s newest unicorns after bringing in $250 million in its latest financing round.
Nissim’s background prior to co-founding Next is in research and development and product management. He was previously Director of Engineering for Intuit as well as Vice President of Research and Development for mobile personal finance service Pageonce. Nissim also spent time as a Senior Product Manager at HP Software and a Senior R&D manager at Mercury. He received his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Mathematics from Tel Aviv University.
18. Ryan Swanson, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at Sureify
Ryan Swanson helped found life insurance enterprise platform Sureify five years ago. Since then, as Chief Operating Officer, he has taken on a number of key functions as his company looks to bridge the gap between insurance companies and the next generation of insurance clients. Principal among Ryan’s responsibilities at Sureify are heading up product operations and information security operations; he also plays an integral role in client and partner integrations on the engagement and servicing side of the company’s platform.
Before helping found Sureify, Ryan served as Director of Operations at enterprise application development company Vendus Product Labs. He also co-founded and served as the co-architect of job search application Dapsity. Ryan began his career in public finance as an analyst in the City of San Jose’s finance department. He graduated from Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing.
19. Marty Dow, Chief Technologist at GEICO
In his more than 20 year tenure with the auto insurance giant GEICO, Marty Dow has held a variety of key roles, from Chief Architect of Internet Systems to his current position as Chief Technologist. As Chief Technologist, Marty works within the office of the CIO and reports directly to the Chief Information Officer.
Marty received his Master of Science in Information Systems from Johns Hopkins University.
20. Hari Balakrishnan, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Cambridge Mobile Telematics
In addition to serving as Fujitsu Professor of Computer Science at MIT, Hari Balakrishnan helped found behavior-based insurance pioneer Cambridge Mobile Telematics. As CTO, Hari has led CMT in utilizing groundbreaking mobile sensing, statistics, artificial intelligence and behavioral science in order to more accurately model driving behavior, a key foundation for the company’s DriveWell behavior-based insurance program. Hari’s technological innovations at CMT have played a key role in the company’s success, including its recent raise of $500 million from the SoftBank Vision Fund.
At MIT, Hari led the MIT CarTel project with CMT’s Chief Scientist Sam Madden; he was instrumental in authoring several award-winning papers and developing technologies that led to CMT’s formation. Prior to CMT’s founding, Hari also co-founded StreamBase and contributed to Sandburst. A member of the National Academy of Engineering since 2015, Hari received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley and his Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.
21. Andrew Johnston, Global Head of Insurtech at Willis Re
As the Global Head of Insurtech for Willis Re—the broking reinsurance arm of leading global advisory, broking and solutions company Willis Towers Watson—Andrew Johnston heads up a team of 30 tasked with vetting hundreds of technology candidates on behalf of his company’s clients. Willis Re’s clients are mainly traditional, incumbent insurers, meaning that Andrew plays a critical role in helping these companies adapt to new insurtech innovations and stay abreast of new developments in the industry.
Andrew started as Willis Re more than three years ago as a Research Analyst specializing in cyber and fintech; he was promoted to his current role shortly thereafter. Rather than the typical business path, Andrew’s background is in research and academics. With a doctorate in politics, he spent six years as a researcher of political violence at SOAS University of London; he also consulted for the United Nations and the Documentation Centre of Cambodia. Andrew received his Ph.D. in Politics, his Master’s in Pacific Asian Studies and his Bachelor’s in Japanese and Economics from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies.
22. Christopher Morrison, Chief Operating Officer at States Title
Christopher Morrison has served as Chief Operating Officer at predictive title and settlement provider States Title since 2017. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing and administering all States Title’s day-to-day operations as well as spearheading the company’s strategic initiatives.
Prior to joining States Title, Christopher was an Associate Partner at consulting giant McKinsey & Company. In his five years with McKinsey, he focused on serving large U.S. insurers and financial institutions with guidance and strategy relating to M&A, corporate strategy and digital sales and service. Christopher received his B.A. in Economics from Amherst College, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
23. Aviad Pinkovezky, Chief Product Officer at Hippo Insurance
As employee number one, Aviad Pinkovezky has been with high-growth insurtech company Hippo Insurance since 2016, starting as Head of Product before being promoted to Chief Product Officer in 2018. In his current role, Aviad helps develop the company’s offerings, aimed at leveraging AI technology to boost customer experience and improve the policy life cycle.
Aviad came to Hippo from LinkedIn, where he was a Senior Product Manager responsible for growing the company’s Company Page ecosystem by almost 300 percent. He also spent 10 years as an officer in the Israeli Military Intelligence. Aviad received his Bachelor of Science from Ben Gurion University and his M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
24. Jamie Yoder, President at Snapsheet
Jamie Yoder was appointed as president of virtual claims technology provider Snapsheet last September based on his years of industry-relevant experience. As President, Jamie has been charged with leading all go-to-market activities across the company’s business lines, from virtual appraisals and fleet and rental management to Snapsheet Transactions and digital engagement and claims management.
Prior to joining Snapsheet, Jamie had been at the forefront of the insurance and technology industry for decades. He served as the Insurance Advisory Practice Leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers for eight years, and he was a Managing Director in Diamond Management & Technology Consultants’ Global Insurance Practice for 15 years. Jamie received his undergraduate degree from Indiana University in Bloomington.
25. Matt Stein, Vice President, Product at Metromile
Vice President of Product Matt Stein brings over 20 years of experience crafting well-loved products to car insurance startup Metromile. In his current role, Matt is responsible for leading and integrating the company’s Product, Design and Project teams.
Matt came to Metromile in 2015 from cloud-based software pioneer Salesforce, where he was Director of Product Design for the Community Cloud. In this role, he was responsible for managing a team of designers, design engineers and researchers to craft engaging and beautiful user experiences. Prior to Salesforce, Matt was with software company Autodesk for 10 years, spending time on the company’s product, design and engineering teams. Matt received his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
