Key Takeaways
- • Former Economic Secretary to the Treasury Bim Afolami has co-founded i23, an AI-driven start-up targeting the commercial insurance broking market, according to Sky News.
- • i23 closed an oversubscribed seed round of $5.5m (£4.9m), with UK-based venture firms Outward VC, Seedcamp and Insiders VC among the leads, and Four Cities Capital also co-leading.
- • The company is building an agentic operating model to take over routine administrative work for brokers and support revenue generation for clients.
- • Insiders say i23 is expected to acquire an existing insurance broker in the coming months.
- • Insurance broking is a highly fragmented market worth nearly $700bn globally, per market data cited by Sky News.
Summary
Sky News reports that Bim Afolami, who served as economic secretary to the Treasury under Rishi Sunak's Conservative government, has established i23, an artificial intelligence start-up aimed at the global insurance broking sector. He co-founded the company with Anand Sambasivan, a co-founder of the digital retail investing platform PrimaryBid. Afolami will serve as i23's president, and Sambasivan is chief executive.
The founders have raised $5.5m (£4.9m) in an oversubscribed seed funding round. UK-based venture capital firms Outward VC, Seedcamp and Insiders VC are among the leading investors, and Four Cities Capital, another early-stage investor, also jointly led the financing.
The company describes its product as an agentic operating model designed to absorb routine administrative work currently handled by insurance brokers, while helping clients grow revenue. Afolami told Sky News that AI will have a profound impact across industries and that the aim is to support the human broker more effectively. Sambasivan argued that a larger commercial insurance business is not automatically a better one, and that AI can allow brokers to serve clients better without administrative workload scaling alongside revenue.
According to insiders cited by Sky News, i23 is expected to acquire an existing insurance broker in the coming months. The target market is highly fragmented, with global insurance broking estimated at nearly $700bn according to market data.
The founders have raised $5.5m (£4.9m) in an oversubscribed seed funding round. UK-based venture capital firms Outward VC, Seedcamp and Insiders VC are among the leading investors, and Four Cities Capital, another early-stage investor, also jointly led the financing.
The company describes its product as an agentic operating model designed to absorb routine administrative work currently handled by insurance brokers, while helping clients grow revenue. Afolami told Sky News that AI will have a profound impact across industries and that the aim is to support the human broker more effectively. Sambasivan argued that a larger commercial insurance business is not automatically a better one, and that AI can allow brokers to serve clients better without administrative workload scaling alongside revenue.
According to insiders cited by Sky News, i23 is expected to acquire an existing insurance broker in the coming months. The target market is highly fragmented, with global insurance broking estimated at nearly $700bn according to market data.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.