We launched Founder Shield in late 2012 after our Co-Founder & CEO, Benji Markoff, reflected on his time at a prior venture-backed startup in New York City. At 22 and the most junior team member, Benji was tasked with securing proper insurance for the company.

The idea for Founder Shield came about after his first call with a prospective broker whose first question to Benji was: “let’s start by getting your fax number so I can get you a proper application to fill out.” Benji was baffled by the idea that even in 2010 the insurance industry was relying on antiquated technology. Surrounded by innovation and technology at the heart of a growing venture community in New York, the questions around commercial insurance continued to linger…there must be a better way.

Founder Shield exists to create the most seamless and intuitive insurance purchasing experience for high-growth & rapidly evolving companies. Founder Shield does this in two ways:

1. We build technology that enhances the customer experience and streamlines back-end processes and paperwork;
2. We focus our expertise and insurance product development on emerging markets that are primed for growth and innovation (and often overlooked by “traditional” insurance brokers).

Our technology development focuses not only on creating a fully-digital purchasing experience for our customers but also automating the time-consuming, back-office aspects of insurance for our team.

When Benji set out to get the first policy in his pre-Founder Shield days, the brokers he spoke to didn’t care to give him the time of day because the account was too small to justify top-level customer service. These brokers failed to see the opportunity…they simply saw the cost of servicing the account and educating the purchaser, not the limitless potential the company had.

We build technology to make sure that our team has the capacity to provide the highest level of hands-on service and responsiveness to our entire customer base. We enjoy educating our clients and underwriters and consider it an essential part of the insurance purchasing experience.

Furthermore, innovation in insurance does not just come from technology, but from the ability to be creative and innovative when it comes to insurance product design. Our clients are not “plain vanilla” or “one-size-fits-all,” so neither are the insurance products we develop and offer.

We have a passion for this and have been at the forefront of creating and developing innovative risk management products across multiple industries. From cryptocurrency and SaaS, to micromobility and delivery, to SPACS and Cannabis, our deep bench of experts have been able to cultivate unique and proprietary relationships with the underwriting community.

We work hand in hand with our clients and our underwriters to be able to create and provide insurance products that haven’t previously existed. It is this level of innovation that has led to our ongoing growth and industry-leading retention rates.

If all of this speaks to you please feel free to reach out to our team. We are excited to show you the insurance experience of the future.