Software business Intelligent AI has secured a £500,000 equity investment by the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Investment Fund (CIOSIF) from appointed fund manager The FSE Group as part of a £2 million funding round.
The CIOSIF investment, along with match-funding from SuperSeed, the FSE Angel Investor Network and private investors, will be used to set up an operational base in Cornwall, creating 27 new jobs over the next three years.
Established in 2020 by Anthony Peake, Intelligent AI provides a risk underwriting platform for the commercial property insurance sector, incorporating artificial intelligence to aid the decision-making process for insurers.
Intelligent AI says the commercial property insurance market currently suffers significant losses in risk management caused by inefficiencies in recording and analysing data sets. Underwriters spend 80% of their time gathering fragmented data, usually a manual process, and less than 20% of their time underwriting policies.
Intelligent AI offers a platform using advanced predictive algorithms, risk data and visualisations to empower their clients to achieve more intelligent outcomes and act on what matters most.
Drawing on data from satellite image analysis, real time smart meters, open data and proprietary algorithms, the platform is able to automatically deliver over 300 datasets for each commercial building or asset (e.g. factories, warehouses, ports, mines etc). Datasets might include flood and weather risk, local crime rates and emergency response times. The customer benefits from mitigated health and safety risks, accurate insurance premiums and greater business continuity.
Anthony Peake, CEO at Intelligent AI, commented: “It is great to be working alongside the CIOSIF team with an investment that has come at an exciting time. In the UK alone, some £50 billion of commercial property underwriting took place from 2016 to 2021 and resulted in losses of £4.7 billion. Globally, approximately £270 billion of commercial property has been underwritten over the last five years, with losses in excess of £27 billion. Thanks to this investment, we will be able to accelerate our growth plans and expand our team to respond to global commercial opportunities, including in the US.”
Anna Staevska, Investment Manager at The FSE Group, added: “Intelligent AI is an exciting young business with global potential. We were impressed with Intelligent AI’s management team, who have deep domain expertise and significant experience in the insurance sector. Furthermore, the company has an exciting suite of products which provide solutions to sector wide problems experienced around the world. We are delighted to be able to invest in the business and look forward to working with Anthony and the team to ensure they reach their goals for growth.”
The £40m Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Investment Fund provides debt and equity finance from £25,000 to £2 million to help growing small businesses across the region. It was established by the British Business Bank in partnership with the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).
John Acornley, LEP non-executive director and chair of the CIOSIF Advisory Board, said: “Intelligent AI are using artificial intelligence and real time data analytics to help insurers, brokers and corporates predict, manage and mitigate commercial property risks. It’s a global market with significant opportunities for growth.”
Paul Jones, Senior Manager at the British Business Bank, said: “This is a great example of a business that has harnessed technology to drive a smarter approach in a traditional sector. We’re delighted to be supporting Intelligent AI’s growth in Cornwall, including the creation of quality jobs.”
CIOSIF is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020.
For more information about the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Investment Fund including how to apply, please visit www.ciosif.co.uk or follow the fund on Twitter at @CIOSIFBBB2