Investors back Exeter artificial intelligence start-up

Investors back Exeter artificial intelligence start-up aiming to save insurance sector over £500m a year

News Desk
Authored by News Desk
Posted Monday, May 24, 2021 - 12:14pm

A new South West business using artificial intelligence to accurately assess risk in the commercial property insurance sector has raised close to £1 million as it launches in the UK and USA.

Founded by entrepreneur and innovator Anthony Peake, Exeter-based Intelligent AI has been backed by investors and the Government through funding from Innovate UK.

The company has developed an online Intelligent Risk platform using 300 real-time data sources ranging from weather and flood risks to crime rates and fire service response times. It could help to save the sector over £500m per year in lost revenue.

Working in partnership with the likes of the University of Exeter and Digital Catapult in London, the company has already secured close to a £1m investment including over £400,000 in private equity and another £295,000 in grants including from Innovate UK.

Anthony Peake, previously managing director of Exeter-based Software Solved, has held key roles at global technology companies including Apple, GE, BT and Oracle. Anthony’s latest venture aims to transform the commercial property insurance sector. He says a major shift is needed in the market:

“We’re delighted to be launching Intelligent AI in the South West and have already had a fantastic response from investors and new clients in the UK and US.

“There is a huge global opportunity across the commercial property insurance sector. We need to move away from a system based on incomplete and historic data, which is failing to accurately define levels of risk in the marketplace. Having real-time, accurate data on risks, and risk mitigation, could ultimately help to prevent catastrophic incidents like Grenfell Tower.

“According to Lloyd’s some £4bn was lost across the UK commercial property insurance sector 2016-2020 because of the historic imbalance between accurate premiums and actual claims. AI and real time data insight can eradicate that, saving over £500m per year. At the same time, the customer will benefit from mitigated health and safety risks, lower premiums and greater business continuity.”

The company is now in the process of building a core team in the South West of skilled and ambitious developers to work at the cutting edge of software development and research and has just launched a recruitment campaign.

Anthony adds: “As a startup it’s really exciting to be already working with some of the UK’s key insurers and in the US. We love being in the South West. It’s a great place to live and work, the tech sector is thriving and we have access to some of the best tech talent in the country. We’re growing fast and already we need five more people to join the expanding team.”

Intelligent AI is recruiting for key roles including commercial manager, project manager and developers, and has just been engaged by a major US property insurer to build digital twins of risk of 20,000 global properties, demonstrating the value of AI and real-time risk insight.

Backers of the startup include RLC Ventures, FomCap and a number of leading angel investors. Legal firm Michelmores and Business West have provided expertise and support to the tech firm.

Intelligent AI has rolled out a suite of AI-backed tools, including its AI Risk Report Analyser, which automatically turns lengthy unstructured risk reports into real-time dashboards to accelerate risk mitigations programmes for corporate clients and lower claims for brokers and insurers.

Neil Strickland, former Head of Risk Management at RSA Insurance, has recently joined the team at Intelligent AI as Commercial Director.

He said: “Intelligent AI focuses on helping the insurance ecosystem understand risk better, make insight-led decisions and do so in a timely and efficient manner.  The need for this digital-led transformation is significant and urgent, and Intelligent AI is at the forefront in being able to provide immediate value to insurers, clients, brokers and consulting companies.”

Intelligent AI has been working with Digital Catapult, the Alan Turing Institute in London and University of Exeter, and was also selected for the Lloyd’s Lab insurtech incubator programme.

Work with the University of Exeter through the IKEEP SETSquared programme and in partnership with the Business School, is focusing on solutions provided by AI, including satellite image analysis to reduce commercial property risk, and sustainable innovation techniques to reduce carbon emissions across the insurance industry.

Dr. Ben Voysey, Incubation and Acceleration Manager at SETsquared Exeter, said: "Intelligent AI has developed a robust technology platform during what has been a very challenging year. With a strong track record of working collaboratively with key strategic partners in the region and beyond, Anthony and the team have made rapid progress with their intelligent risk platform and we are delighted that another high growth technology business has chosen to remain in the South West as it begins to expand its core team.”

Intelligent AI is also part of a new UK thought leadership consortium operating in the insurance space, Sense, with the likes of Lloyds of London, Zurich Insurance, Munich RE and EY, helping to generate debate, educate and progress innovations that reduce the total cost of risk to all in the commercial property sector, through better use of data.

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