“We work with firms to guard them from hazards comparable to wildfire, twister, hail and so forth,” stated GIA Map CEO and co-founder David Jowell (pictured). “We embrace their ebook of enterprise, so we actively haven’t solely future threat in thoughts, however present dangers as effectively for lively occasions and in addition future projections.”

Jowell and co-founder Alicia Naiman are insurance coverage business veterans, one thing that Jowell stated helps make GIA Map’s know-how strategy a savvy one for the insurance coverage business. Jowell, a California native and 30-year business veteran, has expertise managing billions in wildfire and CAT threat publicity at firms together with Kemper and Vacationers insurance coverage. Naiman, a director at GIA Map, brings along with her substantial underwriting expertise from firms together with First American Property & Casualty Insurance coverage and in addition Kemper.

“We got here from the insurance coverage business, and we confronted the identical dilemmas they face every day,” Jowell stated. “We might help them from a really completely different perspective, which is an business perspective.”

Thus far, the corporate has 4 staff. It’s self-funded, worthwhile and has attracted a number of prospects, Jowell famous, together with carriers each admitted and non-admitted, MGAs and MGUs.

Service first

Jowell describes GIA Map as an SaaS firm. The know-how is designed to be easy and easy. GI Map’s system will also be pulled up on a cell phone.

“We have now an online portal they will use to have a look at the dangers on our maps … we even have a strong API the place we will look into the entrance finish and again finish for patrons,” Jowell defined. “We can also construct custom-made touchdown pages for shoppers that will need that sort of know-how to current however don’t even have the system potential proper now.”

Whereas know-how comparable to APIs are a part of the equation, there may be additionally an enormous give attention to the corporate’s potential to entry and interpret information sources from a number of locations.

 “We’re not solely interfacing with what we do, which is wildfire predictions and projections, but additionally a relentless turnover of occasions that really occurred,” Jowell stated. “We have now feeds from fireplace information sources, satellite tv for pc intelligence, from warmth indexes, however we will additionally exit and discover occasions which can be taking place and put them into the placement intelligence system.”

As well as, GIA gives software program choices comparable to its MapCheck instrument – a 24/7 mapping eligibility portal. Clients can combine their firm urge for food settings for threat location primarily based on particular person threat cash restrict, GIA wildfire rating and mixture or PML restrict.

Jowell stated GIA’s experience is in some methods extra necessary than the know-how it makes use of.

“What we do as underwriters who’ve spent our profession underwriting, is to have a look at the info and transcend that,” Jowell stated. “To actually have a look at wildfire scoring, for instance, a number of what firms do is charge the comb or the forest or the gas, not have a look at the precise neighborhoods the place the hearth goes to get into. Hearth doesn’t cease when the gas stops, however a number of scoring mechanisms do this as a result of that’s the place the info stops.”

GIA stands out, Jowell asserted, as a result of his firm’s collective human expertise helps complement the know-how. This consists of expertise “ neighborhoods, studying them, their defensive potential, their entry factors, and it from the standpoint of our expertise speaking to firefighting professionals, and in addition watching fireplace historical past to grasp the place fires are going to go,” Jowell stated.

Sensible use of knowledge

Jowell famous the corporate depends strategically on modern know-how comparable to APIs, however he believes tech “has to move the sniff check” earlier than it may be successfully used.

“Simply because you might have 1,000 factors of knowledge doesn’t imply these 1,000 factors of knowledge are related to the insurance coverage underwriting decision-making course of,” Jowell stated. “As a matter of reality, which may really result in paralysis the place you might have an excessive amount of data. Making an attempt to really make the choice must be rather more simplistic.”

Whereas GIA Map could have a look at enterprise capital someday sooner or later, there aren’t any plans to hunt outdoors funding at current, Jowell stated.

For now, he stated, the main target is on the corporate’s current shopper base and including new ones, shopper by shopper.

Remaining a smaller firm for now’s an excellent factor, he stated.

“We have now the flexibility to be extremely agile,” Jowell stated.