Vishal Sankhala led product at a digital life insurance distributor Ethos before it went public earlier this year. In late 2023, the seasoned engineering executive, who had previously worked at Facebook and Uber, left Ethos and launched Outmarket, a startup that uses AI to help insurance agencies and brokers automate all their tedious paperwork.

“Ninety-five percent of insurance in the U.S. and worldwide is still sold through [human] agents, and when you look at sort of like how the process is today, it’s very manual,” Sankhala told TechCrunch. “This is a huge opportunity given how massive this industry is.”

Outmarket focuses on commercial insurance because these policies involve deep nuances and custom tailoring for every business. Companies must navigate a complex mix of coverage options, ranging from general liability and workers’ compensation to directors and officers (D&O) liability.

“There are over 250 different types of coverages that are out there, depending on what business you are and what risk you have and what you want to cover,” Sankhala said. “For each of those, the process is very different. The application forms you need to fill out, the documents you need to read.”

Outmarket’s AI automates those time-consuming administrative tasks, helping brokers (namely, organizations like Marsh and Aon that sell insurance) quickly evaluate and recommend the best policies, so they can focus on work that requires a human touch, such as responding to customers during emergencies.

That value has attracted over 300 insurance agencies, including 25% among the top 100, as Outcast’s customers since launching a new product 14 months ago.  “For insurance, which is typically not a fast-moving industry, it’s quite fast growth,” Sankhala said.

Investors have been impressed with the company, too.  

Outcast is set to announce that it raised a $34.5 million Series B led by SignalFire, with participation from Fika Ventures, Permanent Capital Ventures, TTV Capital and Dash Fund. The new round, which comes four months after the startup’s $17 million Series A, valued the company at $355 million, according to a person familiar with the investment.

The startup is not alone in building an AI operating layer for insurance brokerages. Other startups trying to help insurance brokers include Fulcrum AI and Further AI.

But with the U.S. property and casualty insurance market alone over a trillion dollars in annual premiums, Sankhala believes that Outmarket has plenty of room to grow by helping agencies work faster and smarter.