Hartford Business Journal

31 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | April 11, 2022 TECH 25 Stable Insurance is developing a more complete insurance coverage option for rideshare drivers. Dr. Reid Waldman has a Glastonbury dermatology practice and is also developing a new wart-removal treatment called WartPatch. Insurtech Stable Insurance launching 'gap-free' coverage for rideshare drivers By Norman Bell Hartford Business Journal Contributor A s the calendar turned to 2020, rideshare companies were so busy they couldn't hire drivers fast enough. A few months later, workers displaced by the pandemic were looking for some quick cash and were eager to drive, but much of the public was staying home. That's when food delivery became a hot business. The fundamental feature of these gig jobs was an individual driving a personal car "for hire," a use not covered by normal auto insurance. Coverage riders were available — often for a hefty price. And gray areas were frequently an issue. Platforms like Lyft, Uber and DoorDash covered the driver while on a call, but coverage wasn't always as clear on the way to or from a fare, or when "prospecting" for fares. And drivers couldn't afford to have their cars out of service while they negotiated with an insurer. For insurtech entrepreneurs like Douglas Ver Mulm and his partners Stephen Decker and John Salvucci, that seems like an opportunity for a fit-for-purpose insurance coverage provider. They'd been working on the edges of the rideshare industry, looking for an opening in fleet coverage. They shifted gears and within a few weeks — likely by early June — Stable Insurance expects to start offering coverage to gig drivers in Illinois. Fit-for-purpose insurance is a complex regulatory area, Ver Mulm explains, and Stable has to advance state by state. It expects to add Arizona and Texas later this year and a dozen states in 2023. The idea is to offer gap-free coverage with underwriting based on a gig driver's record gathered from mobility platform apps and dashcam data. Using that subset of driving data bypasses rating factors like age and credit stability that can drive up the cost of insurance from mainstream providers, he says. Gig drivers often rack up 30,000 miles in six months, he explains, and that's enough of a record to provide a good basis for underwriting. Ver Mulm calculates that across the nation there are "1 million drivers up for grabs," including up to 70,000 in Illinois. In late February, Stable received $3.3 million in capital from investors led by Brooklyn Bridge Ventures and MLTPY, which is helping with software, insurance and reinsurance carriers. The product line includes fit-for- purpose coverage for rideshare, delivery and carshare use. Downstream, Ver Mulm sees Stable being able to leverage its rating data into offering a wider range of coverage and products. And he sees vast potential in insuring rideshare vehicle fleets outside the U.S. Ver Mulm, an attorney by training, is an unlikely innovator in auto insurance. For 15 years, he lived in Brooklyn and seldom drove. He quit his job in 2019, moved to West Hartford and dove into the Hartford InsurTech Hub to pursue the fleet insurance idea. Then COVID-19 hit and he saw the potential for insuring gig drivers. He got a driving job to research the issues and witnessed the rapid changes in the field. And that was enough to validate the business concept. VeraDermics developing more effective, less painful approach to wart removal By Norman Bell Hartford Business Journal Contributor N obody likes to see a child cry. For Dr. Reid Waldman, he sees it in his Glastonbury dermatology practice. For Dr. Vic Durso, it is a painful memory of battling warts as a child. In 2019, the two young doctors shared interests during a MIT Hacking Dermatology session, an event focused on exploring innovation in treating skin conditions. The resulting idea of developing a new approach to delivering wart medicine was among five grand prizewinners. The $5,000 award launched VeraDermics. Waldman explains that traditional wart treatment is painful and often doesn't work. About 1.5 million patients — mostly children — are treated for warts each year. Freezing hurts and is effective about half the time. Injection hurts even more but is more effective. Waldman estimated the pain of injection at a 7 on the 10-point scale doctors employ. "I've seen adults cry," Waldman says. VeraDermics' approach uses a dissolvable microneedle patch that's applied much like a Band-Aid. The WartPatch microneedles "melt like an icicle," Waldman explains, allowing the medicine to penetrate the skin in a process that's essentially painless. The technology isn't new — it's used in acne treatment, for example — but its use in treating kids with warts is unique. Still there are a lot of steps from having an idea to having a product, especially in an area that requires Food and Drug Administration regulatory approval. "The first year was spent learning a lot about business, building out the vision and trying to understand what it means to develop a pharmaceutical because at medical school, they don't have classes on this type of thing," Waldman said in an interview with Forbes magazine. They learned well. In September 2021 — just two years after the MIT hackathon — VeraDermics landed $20.7 million in Series A funding. Major players included J.W. Childs Associates, Vladimir Coric Family Trust, Peter Werth Family Investment Associates, a handful of small investors and Connecticut Innovations. CI had rejected VeraDermics' initial application for pre-seed funding in 2019, Waldman recalls. But in 2020, CI urged VeraDermics to reapply, and a pre-seed financial relationship was born. CI then came back for a bigger bite in the Series A round and now holds a seat on the board of directors. Waldman cites FDA warnings about forward-looking statements in explaining his measured responses to questions about next steps. Yes, he says, they expect WartPatch to be in clinical trials in 2022. No, they can't speculate on whether UConn Health, where Waldman recently worked as a clinical trials resident, could play a role. Yes, there are other potential applications and VeraDermics is looking at additional products in dermatology. No, he can't speculate on when a product might come to market or whether they'll need a deep-pocketed pharma partner to make it happen. He points to Therapeutics Inc., a contract research organization in San Diego, as guiding their march forward. But even with $20 million in the corporate account, Waldman is keeping his day job at Dermatology Associates of Glastonbury. At A Glance Company: Stable Insurance | Industry: Insurtech Top Executive: Douglas Ver Mulm, Co-Founder | HQ: West Hartford Company Website: StableIns.com At A Glance Company: VeraDermics | Industry: Health care Top Executive: Dr. Reid Waldman, COO & Co-Founder | HQ: West Hartford Company Website: VeraDermics.com CONTRIBUTED PHOTO | LYFT PHOTO | UCONN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Douglas Ver Mulm

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