Coterie, an API-based insurance company, raises $8.5 million in Series A funding

The company wants to simplify commercial insurance for both small businesses and freelancers

Coterie, an Ohio-based startup focused on commercial insurance, has announced it has raised $8.5 million in Series A funding. With over $3 million raised prior, it brings its total to over $12 million raised.

The round was led by RPM Ventures and joined by Intercept Ventures.

Coterie states that it provides "commercial insurance as a service" and it does this through the use of various APIs. As the company states in an interview with TechCrunch, it connects "places that have some commercial insurance requirement, or service customers who need commercial insurance," and then feeds that information into their internal systems.

From there, Coterie can look at the accounts and decide, on spot, whether or not to bind (meaning that the coverage is in place, but a policy has yet to be issued) the account.

What this means for small businesses and even freelancers is that general and professional liability insurance is made available quickly. Coterie also uses different data sets to understand the businesses that are applying for the insurance, which also means they can provide them with more accurate policy pricing.

At the end of the day, Coterie is looking to take some of the confusion out of the insurance market for small businesses and freelancers, making it easier for them to buy and change their insurance plans, which in turn, can save them both time and money.