Novella raises $21 million to automate complex insurance with AI brokers
The startup targets $150 billion E&S market still reliant on manual underwriting.
Novella has raised $21 million in total funding, as it looks to overhaul the wholesale insurance market for complex physical assets using artificial intelligence.
The round includes a recently closed $16 million Series A led by Brewer Lane Ventures, with participation from Box Group, Crystal Venture Partners, SV Angel, Avid Ventures, Verissimo Ventures, and Blank Ventures.
Founded in 2024, Novella is targeting the excess and surplus (E&S) insurance market, a segment responsible for insuring large, complex and difficult-to-place risks that standard insurers typically avoid. These include skyscrapers in hurricane-prone regions, large infrastructure projects, and construction sites.
Despite the scale of the market, estimated at more than $150 billion in annual premiums, much of it remains heavily manual. According to the company, brokers often spend nearly half their time on operational and back-office work, including reviewing hundreds of pages of documentation per policy.
Novella is positioning itself as what it calls the first AI-native wholesale insurance brokerage, using “vertical AI agents” designed to perform underwriting analysis and operational workflows at the level of experienced brokers. The system handles tasks ranging from submission review and underwriting appetite matching to billing, tax filings, renewals, inspections, and policy endorsements.
The company argues that this automation changes the economics of wholesale brokerage, allowing brokers to spend their time entirely on client relationships while gaining real-time visibility into underwriting status across carriers.
“We believe pairing world-class human brokers with world-class AI is the formula for success,” said co-founder and CEO Max Kane. “Vertical AI that deeply understands the complexity of our industry turns brokers into super-producers, allowing them to spend 100% of their time building relationships and growing their business.”
Kane added that the company is also expanding its physical footprint across the United States, including offices in Texas and Florida and plans for a new location in California. Novella is headquartered in New York and also operates an R&D center in Tel Aviv, which currently employs about half of its 20-person team, with plans to double its Israel-based staff.
The company said it reached a seven-figure revenue run rate just five months after its public launch.
