At-Bay 'well capitalised’ with no current need for further funding, says CEO Iram

By James Thaler

May 27 - (The Insurer) - At-Bay co-founder Rotem Iram said the company has no current need for additional funding with the business “well capitalised,” while he believes current cyber rates are “lower than they should be” and expects them to rise.

The company’s CEO made those comments in an interview with The Insurer TV on the sidelines of this month’s Equal Ventures Capital Summit in New York City, where he also detailed the evolution of the firm’s distribution strategy and the continued importance of wholesale.

“We've been very fortunate to raise a lot of money in 2021, but I think, not only that, I think with the guidance of our board, we've done a good job being conservative in that marketplace,” Iram explained.

The comments come against a backdrop of growing interest among major incumbent carrier firms to strike deals with prominent cyber insurtechs, after Travelers acquired Corvus in 2024 for $435 million and Cowbell raised a $60 million Series C from Zurich that could tee up an acquisition.

“We haven't had a need to go back to the market for funding in any real way. And so, for us, we're well capitalized. We can pick and choose our spots. Right now, this is not the best time to go to the market,” Iram said.

Iram said that the approach At-Bay is taking to funding or any other kind of major “is not an At-Bay or a cyber insurance thing,” but a reflection more broadly of market conditions.

“The markets are volatile at the moment. For us, (in terms of) acquisitions and strategic partnerships, we're happy to partner, but as long as we get to keep our vision. We want to build the future of this industry,” the CEO said.

“We want At-Bay to be a generational company. We have the ability to own our own destiny, which is very important for us, and that's what we're going to continue to do,” he outlined.

With somewhere north of $300 million in written premium, Iram described At-Bay as the largest writer of cyber insurance in the wholesale distribution channel and estimated that the company is the seventh largest U.S. cyber insurer.

‘REALLY ENCOURAGED’ BY DISTRIBUTION EVOLUTION

Cyber Risk Insurer has previously reported that At-Bay has been selectively expanding into the retail channel by initiating discussions with the largest U.S. retailers, an evolution in the company's distribution strategy that Iram said has so far been working well.

“Brokers appreciate transparency, consistency and loyalty. So, you say what you do, and you do what you say,” he commented, adding that the insurtech “has always been very transparent in partnering with our broker partners.”

“We are wholesale first, as a company and as a strategy, and we get an incredible relationship from our wholesale partners. We have expanded, about a year and a half ago, to work with the top five retailers in the country as well,” he commented.

That step, he noted, has been driven in part by “a big push” already underway among the top retail brokers to retain more cyber business in-house.

“They don't necessarily use the wholesale channel as much as they've used it in the past. And so, it made sense for us to have a direct relationship there. That has been going really, really well,” the founder explained.

He also said that he and his team have been “really encouraged and excited to see the understanding and the continued partnership from the wholesale channel,” citing a net promoter score survey the firm recently conducted that he said put At-Bay at the top of the industry “by a wide margin.”

“So, we're really grateful for their business and for their faith in what we're doing,” he said of At-Bay’s wholesale relationships.

‘RATES ARE LOWER THAN THEY SHOULD BE’

With soft cyber market conditions following a period of hardening and a surge in growth putting top-line pressure on companies, Iram acknowledged that “in insurance, growth is not always a good idea.”

“Sometimes, growth means losing more money if the market isn't pricing adequately. And I think that, in the last two years, it is absolutely true that the market has not been pricing cyber the right way,” he argued.

“We believe the rates are lower than they should be, and so, we pick and choose our places. For us, growth is a third metric. We need to first have hit the right loss ratios, and make sure that we are underwriting profitably,” Iram said.

“In the U.S., we have been growing quite a bit. There are definitely headwinds in the marketplace, but we've done a good job growing. Not as much as I would have liked. But again, I think it's shortsighted to look at growth on a quarterly basis,” he continued.

“We are here because we believe in the next decade cyber is going to be hundreds of billions of dollars in premium, and we want to be one of the generational companies that define this space. That's what we're targeting.”

The At-Bay co-founder said the path to achieving his firm’s ambition entails proving that the company is “a responsible underwriter that does it the right way”, adding that its security offering is taking growth pressure of its insurance business.

“The fact that we've launched and built a security company that's now selling tens of millions of dollars is really creating a way for us to grow profitably without jeopardizing the insurance discipline.”

After recent commentary from Beazley and Chubb suggesting that cyber pricing is inadequate and that they plan to raise their pricing, Iram said he expects rates to begin to rise “in the near future”.

“There's a question of how long is it going to take everybody to figure this out? But again, this is not about short-term; it's about long-term health.

“I think we owe our customers more predictability, more visibility, and less volatility in pricing, and that's what we're trying to do with the way we communicate and price in the marketplace,” he concluded.

Watch the full interview with At-Bay’s Rotem Iram to hear more on:

• How the company is “well-capitalized” with no current need to raise funding amid tough conditions

• Why current cyber rates are “lower than they should be” and are expected to rise

• At-Bay’s position as the largest wholesale cyber insurer and its entry into retail

• The security offering that’s generating tens of millions in revenue and lessening growth pressures

• And more…