Lloyd’s will invest in Layr, a cloud-based commercial insurance platform for small businesses, following a successful trial in the Lloyd’s Lab, which last week welcomed a second cohort of 12 InsurTech startups.

Layr, which is based in Atlanta, Georgia, participated in the first cohort of the Lloyd’s Lab and used the opportunity to test their cloud-based solution for providing faster access for small businesses looking to purchase liability insurance.

Terms of the investment were not disclosed.

The InsurTech company, which is a startup in the Advanced Technology Development Center’s ATDC Accelerate portfolio, secured an investment from Lloyd’s to develop its solution further. Layr is also exploring potential distribution opportunities with several Lloyd’s syndicates.

The platform bypasses carriers’ APIs and instead uses its proprietary price and appetite prediction engine to match business with the right policies from the right career at the right price. This allows Layr to provide indications for more lines of coverage across more industries in real-time.

Unlike comparison engines or aggregators, Layr uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to compare an applicant against clusters of similar small businesses. Companies will find out not only the coverage they need and the best price to pay for it, but also what coverage similar businesses purchase.

The investment announcement comes on the heels of Lloyd’s bold new strategy, which included a commitment to expand the scope of activity in the Lloyd’s Lab.

On April 29, 2019, Lloyd’s Lab started working with a second cohort of 12 teams selected from more than 250 applicants. The 10-week program will run until July 3 when startups will have the opportunity to showcase their products to potential investors.

The selected teams were chosen in a two-step competitive application process with the best 22 startups presenting their ideas to experts across the market during pitch day.

The full list of startups that will be working with Lloyd’s innovation accelerator are available here. They include technological and data driven solutions to help better understand risks; make claim processes faster; and facilitate wider access to insurance.

Lloyd’s CEO, John Neal, said:

“Lloyd’s Lab provides us with an exceptional environment to test and accelerate the implementation of new technological solutions. I am delighted that Lloyd’s itself has invested in Layr following the Lab’s first cohort, and I am looking forward to seeing what solutions emerge from the second cohort.”

Lloyd’s Head of Innovation, Trevor Maynard, said:

“Lloyd’s is in a unique position to drive innovation within the insurance market and the success stories coming from our first cohort confirm that. I am delighted by the breadth of experience and ideas of this new cohort, and by how the startups have strived to make their innovative solutions relevant to the Lloyd’s market. Having the engagement and expertise of so many market participants is another unparalleled advantage, and an important part of our success.”

Layr CEO, Phillip Naples, said:

“Modern business owners do everything online, so Layr is the natural evolution for small business insurance. We feel validated that the world’s oldest and most respected insurance marketplace agrees and recognises that the technology we’re creating is the future of small commercial distribution.”

To find out more about the Lloyd’s Lab and to get involved visit lloydslab.com.