Fabrizia Roberto | Koverd | Insurtech

Fabrizia grew up in a small town in the North of Italy, before moving to Milan to go to Uni. She loved university - “they were  brilliant years”. She also did a number of study trips abroad, which included six months at Sydney University finishing her Masters. That is when she  “fell in love with Australia”.

Growing up she was always drawn to communication and while in high school wanted to become a journalist. That then morphed into a passion for marketing and advertising. Today Fabrizia is one of the Founders of koverd. koverd helps people find and maintain insurance that meets their specific needs. She sees her passion for communication, connecting people and enriching lives playing out in the  insurance space and through koverd.

I was lucky enough to talk with Fabrizia about her journey.

Fabrizia Roberto. Co-founder & CEO, Koverd

What gave you the idea for koverd? 

I always was the type of person to come up with ideas for businesses and products that could make people’s lives better. I had a good corporate career though and the fields my business ideas were in were often ones I had no deep experience in. The idea behind koverd developed based on the unique insights I gained throughout my career in insurance, and I knew it was something I could execute on. 

But I knew nothing about how to launch a startup and didn’t have a team of great operators alongside me any more. And that’s when early stage VC Antler came in, offering expertise and support. And also when I convinced my amazing co-founder Alok to join this crazy journey as our CTO.

Any key stats, data, reports, research you can provide to give flavor to the opportunity/problem?

A few years back the ICA commissioned a research study that showed many insurance buyers are confused about their cover and don’t fully understand what they’ve bought and the protection they can expect. As much as 81% of home insurance buyers are estimated to be under-insured, and 25% are openly admitting they don’t know what their policy covers them for. At this point in time it feels like insurance products are built for insurance professionals, not for everyday people who find no pleasure in researching or buying insurance, they simply want protection for the things that matter to them.

What does koverd do? Who is the solution for? What problem does it solve?

koverd helps people find and maintain the best cover for their own individual needs throughout their life journey.

No jargon. No confusing processes. Just helpful and transparent guidance. For most people, buying and managing all their insurance these days feels like driving down a busy and unfamiliar road, in a manual car and no GPS. All we want is to get from A to B. To get the right protection. However the experience is confusing, frustrating and it’s easy to get lost.

koverd is to insurance what autonomous vehicles will be to travel, an easier and safer way to get to the destination without the hardest parts of the journey. We want people to feel confident and comfortable with their insurance - our mission is to bring insurance wellbeing to millions of people. And we know that by doing that, we will unlock opportunities for insurers to acquire their target customers at a lower cost.

What is unique about koverd?

We solve a real customer problem, with a true customer centric approach to insurance distribution, made possible by a clear data strategy, an ‘ecosystem approach’ and a great tech platform.

What have you learnt about raising capital?

So much! In 12 months I went from knowing nothing, to having an academic/theoretical understanding of it to now having my own opinion on what works and what doesn’t.

I’ve learnt that knowing your proposition, your product and your customers really well is not enough. You need to understand the investor mentality and motivations. And there isn’t just one type of investor. There are some VCs and individuals in the investment ecosystem that are working hard to make the whole process more transparent but still too many who hide behind the information asymmetry because they think that will give them an advantage in negotiations. I far prefer the first group! Honesty and authenticity are part of my core values and are part of koverd’s core values.

We are raising a bridging round at the moment and getting good support. For anyone interested in finding out more, I’d love to chat.

What do you think Corporates can learn from early stage businesses?

That listening to their customers is the best way to make sure their products and services are successful. The relationship between companies and consumers has changed so much over the last few years. Only those companies and brands that can establish a relationship based on respect and delivering value to their customers can thrive in this new era. 

I have worked in both large and smaller corporations in the past and I understand very well how hard it is to innovate from the inside. I think partnering with early stage businesses, that have the freedom to be a bit more daring and run experiments is the best way forward in many cases.

Where do Corporates need to improve in working with/supporting early stage businesses?

As always, it comes with going beyond what they need out of the business relationship and understanding what the early stage business needs too in order for both to succeed. Quick feedback, clarity around next steps and what is required to move forward, are so important. Early stage businesses often don’t have the luxury to just focus on BAU for a bit while waiting to know if a collaboration is going to happen or not, we live from milestone to milestone and so helping us having realistic expectations on timelines and possible outcomes is so important.

Also I would love to see some win-win collaboration and resource sharing happening. So many people working in big organisations would love to experience working on innovative projects and could benefit from the learnings that come with spending time in a startup. And startups are poor in cash and rich in ambitions and opportunities. That seems like a good match!

Looking back, with what you know now, what would you have done differently?

Many things and also none at all. I am a big believer that everything that happens happens for a reason and it’s part of your unique path. This doesn’t mean not learning or thinking you’re perfect. I sometimes wish we had raised more capital last year, before getting into the tougher economic environment we’re in now. But by the same token we’ve managed to achieve a lot still and made our funds stretch incredibly well and are now in a great position to raise funds with a product in market and more substance behind us. 

As another example, sometimes I wish I knew how wrong I was in thinking that having my own business would allow me to have more control. It’s quite the opposite, at every turn you depend on someone, from investors to partners, to clients and so on. Would I have chosen not to embark on this journey had I known? Maybe, but it would have been out of fear, which isn’t a good thing.

Where do see koverd in ten years time?

Helping millions of people reach insurance wellbeing and using their own data to get better tailored protection. In whichever capacity I’ll be involved then I also hope we’d have built a legacy to be proud of in terms of business impact and culture.

Biggest challenge you have faced so far?

From a personal point of view - keeping my emotions balanced. I often say that startup life is what I imagine the high jump at the Olympics would be. Even when you achieve a great milestone, the very next moment the bar is moved a little higher and you’ve gotta do it again. Plus similarly you are in the spotlight and sometimes feel ‘exposed’ while trying your best to do something quite hard.

Example of a good result with koverd? 

The support we are getting behind our vision. From receiving investment from Antler, Brisbane Angels and other amazing investors; to being selected for the IAG Firemark Accelerate program one of their first (or maybe the first) insurtech startup; to the businesses who are ready to partner with us as we launch in only a few weeks.

That all culminates in us launching our embedded digital broker service on October 3rd, we can’t wait!

What are the key disruptive forces you see facing the insurance industry?

Embedded insurance, UBI, parametric, CDR. Overarchingly the need for insurance to work for consumers and not for consumers to have to do a lot of work to get and maintain protection.

What is your focus now? And for the next couple of years? 

Launching our embedded digital broker solution in the next few weeks. That includes finalising operational set-up, tech and partner agreements. Quickly followed by raising investment to get us to the next stage.

For the next couple of years it will be a lot of listening to our customers and adapting to get product/market fit and be confident that we are adding value to our customers and our partners.

What are the one or two lessons/principles/ you carry with you into everything you do?

A couple of quotes come to mind:

In a world where you can be anything, be kind. 

To me it’s a big one. We have an impact throughout our lives, even in the most mundane interactions. It’s within our control to make it a positive one

Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right. 

Being aware of your own inner voice and the power it has over your actions. In the crazy world of a startup founder it’s so important to be self-aware. It doesn’t make everything magically easy but it helps reset and be resilient.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?

I’ve never been great a long term plans… But I would love to be in a position to look back at what we’ve built and what we’ve learnt with pride and satisfaction. Part of that would also be helping other entrepreneurs, above all female and underrepresented, achieve their goals. While I would love to think that underrepresentation of female and other minority founders won’t be an issue anymore in 10 years, I am afraid it will still be something to actively work on.

How do you balance your personal time and your ‘work’ time?

Not very well! Instead of achieving balance I like to think I’ve managed to get to a point where I fluctuate between one and the other within a stable range! What I mean by that is that I’m not the very structured or routine driven type of person. But I am good at identifying priorities and directing my time and energy where it’s most needed based on those. There are days when my daughter tells me she hasn’t played with me in a long time because I am working hard on some business priorities, and others when I can go and watch her school play in the middle of the day because it will make no difference to the business and a big difference to her and I.