Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • July 22, 2019 • Hartford Business Journal 15 stationed at the Boat Building, to numerous fundraising opportunities with property-and-casualty insurers. Van Heerden says Pineapple hopes to establish a permanent residence downtown because it has forged promising relationships during its time here so far. It's also a cheaper landing spot than Boston and New York, and Hartford's insurtech ecosys- tem, he says, has strong support from local officials, insurance carriers and Connecticut Innovations, the state's quasi-public venture investor. "The fact that we are ready to get going on something and it's only been about five months says a great deal about how open this community is to collaboration and innovation," said Van Heerden, who lives within walk- ing distance of the Boat Building. "At this point it makes so much sense to be here because our partners are here. We want to be part of this ecosystem." Predicting risk Switzerland-based Luminant Ana- lytics, led by founder Renu Ann Joseph, was another Hartford InsurTech Hub participant recruited into the Nassau Re/Imagine incubator. Joseph, who moved to the U.S. from India in 2002, is more than a year into pi- loting her business-to-business software, which calculates analytical insights and predictive models for insurance compa- nies to evaluate risk and pricing. She's currently looking to partner with a commercial auto or life insurance car- rier to transition her business out of its pilot stage. Her focus over the next two quarters centers on gaining visibility with insurers. That's where Nassau Re's promotional services comes into play. "By giving us visibility and putting us in front of people that matter, we are building longer viability," she said. Joseph, who is currently self fund- ing her enterprise, sees her desktop- based platform becoming a key tool for underwriters assessing risk and actuaries who price that risk. In prac- tice, the platform could help insurers determine whether they should cover a trucking company by compiling and calculating traffic data, a state's eco- nomic environment or certain charac- teristics of the driver and truck fleets. "The product could take on the shape of what the first few clients want," said Joseph, 40, who has over five part- and full-time staffers. "I think it's an interesting journey for the insurance companies to be a part of." She decided to stay in Hartford last fall after being named among the top 22 startups in the second annual Hart- ford InsurTech Hub Selection Days accelerator program. Soon after, she heard about the upcoming Nassau Re incubator and eventually became the first startup to be accepted into the program in February. The Boat Building now serves as Luminant's U.S. headquarters, and Joseph hopes the city will become its permanent home for at least a cluster of employees following her tenure at the incubator. Luminant's long-term presence in Hartford, she says, will ulti- mately depend on funding and whether Hartford is seen as being insurtech friendly among prospective hires. "The incubator gives us a base to es- tablish contacts, marketing and legal services," she said. "These are all very valuable for an early stage company." Meeting stakeholders Another India native, Neeraja Ras- mussen, has also made her way to the Nassau Re incubator. Rasmussen established a platform two years ago called Spyglaz that uses machine-learning algorithms to predict which potential customers a business is likely to lose. In Hartford, Rasmussen has been talking to area insurers about potential partnerships as she gears up to launch an insurance-focused pilot. Based in San Mateo, Calif., Rasmus- sen heard about Hartford's newest incubator program through a local business-development advisor. Rasmussen recently made her first visit to the downtown incubator space, and was welcomed by meetings with key stakeholders at Nassau Re, local eco- nomic-development officials and others from Startupbootcamp. She plans to work at the incubator at least once or twice a month, and sees a long-term future for Spyglaz in the "Heartland of Insurance" given the area's talented workforce and opera- tional costs being 30 percent lower in Hartford vs. Silicon Valley. "At this stage, it's all about traction. Getting in front of the right people with your story is a really important part of making progress," Rasmussen said. "This was my first time in Hart- ford and I was just incredibly blown away by how supportive and nice people are. I get the feeling that they are really vested in your success." Neeraja Rasmussen, founder of Silicon Valley-based Spyglaz, which is a CRM- related software. 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