Spreading the Marmalade gospel
Cactus Ltd co-founders James Robinson and Mark Higgins have already found some success with their deal pricing and data capture system, Marmalade.
Now, they are seeking to raise capital so that they can spread it around.
Cactus’ flagship product was developed in the first cohort of the InnoFund Innovation Incubator and in the fourth cohort of the Ignite Bermuda entrepreneurial accelerator.
Mr Robinson said: “Ignite and InnoFund have been instrumental in helping us to put our investment prospectus together and Cactus is now actively looking to raise $500,000 to support its growth plans both in Bermuda and the UK.”
The entrepreneurs are in San Francisco this week for the Risk Management Society’s annual conference, and then it’s off to London to take part in the 10-week Lloyd’s Lab accelerator programme that brings together insurtechs, insurers, and brokers to test out new, innovative solutions.
“We solve the data capture problem,” Mr Robinson said. “Marmalade is a coherent product that you can take off the shelf, and start underwriting.”
At Rims, Mr Robinson said, “we’re hoping to meet some actual insureds and retail brokers to make sure we understand the actual customer.
“We think they care about speed, but we’ve never spoken to an insured so we don’t actually know if that’s true.”
In London, Mr Robinson and Mr Higgins will be among 11 start-ups selected for the eighth cohort of the Lloyd’s programme.
In addition to fellow Bermudian-based outfit Kettle, the reinsurance managing general agent, participants in Lloyd’s Lab include Privateer Space, which is led by president Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple.
Mr Robinson, Cactus’ chief technology officer, said: “It feels like a real honour to be put in the same company as those guys.”
He added: “It feels like a big vote of confidence.”
Mr Robinson and Mr Higgins, who met while studying mathematics at Christ College, Cambridge University and worked together here at Hamilton Insurance Group as data scientists, have a clear game plan for their time in London.
Mr Robinson said: “What we hope to get out of it is connections, to learn how Lloyd’s is different than Bermuda, and hopefully some good ideas to bring back. Can we take the best ideas from both Lloyd’s and Bermuda?
“Our target is to take at least one market participant out to lunch every day, and listen.”
Underwriters at one Bermudian-based insurer are already using Marmalade to price business, and Mr Robinson said the co-founders have met with other potential clients on the island, and have some “good prospects”.
He said the pitch is: “We build the data asset your actuaries dream of in a system your underwriters love.”
Now, they are hitting the road to deliver the Marmalade gospel.
Mr Robinson said: “If we can solve the problems here in Bermuda, they have the same problems at Lloyd’s and the same problems in the United States, so Marmalade has truly global scope.”
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