Travel insurer Battleface Inc. sped sales growth not so much by selling to consumers as serving ostensible competitors through a spinout it formed last year.
The Columbus insurtech firm created Robin Assist LLC in early 2023 at the request of larger insurers who underwrite Battleface plans and wanted its digital claims and customer assistance tech for their own policies, Sasha Gainullin, CEO of both, said in an interview. About 90% of the combined companies' revenue is business-to-business.
"They were so impressed with the level of attention that we give to the customer that we now started to service their customers," Gainullin said. "We kind of opened up our platform in 2023 to the travel insurance industry and that has taken off quite nicely.
"It's easy for us to have these conversations with carriers because they know what we're doing, and they know our reputation," he said. "It's all based on relationships. We didn't even market it."
Meanwhile, Battleface quietly raised a $35 million Series B round in 2023's scaled-back investing environment, led by Hudson Capital, with repeat investment from Columbus-based Drive Capital LLC and other existing investors. That makes it the fourth-largest VC round in Central Ohio last year, which was the first in five years with no single round greater than $100 million, according to Columbus Inno's annual countdown, which relies on company confirmations.
Revenue, which is not disclosed, grew by 43% over 2022. Battleface grew to 130 employees, including more than 40 in Ohio – it needs employees in each global time zone to help travelers.
Battleface, styled lowercase in its branding, was founded in 2018 by Gainullin and fellow travel insurance veterans who recognized that one-size-fits-all policies no longer fit the way people travel. It moved to Columbus from the UK at the beginning of 2021 with an investment led by Drive Capital. With the latest round it's raised $49 million to date.
Why larger insurers turn to Battleface for tech
Uptake has always been slow when travel agencies or airlines directly offer trip insurance, Gainullin said, but after the pandemic that rate fell from about 9% to 2% or less. Usually that's because the policies offered every possibility for a high price.
"Everyone was selling the exact same product, and there's no customization," he said.
Instead, Battleface designs custom, short-term plans with a la carte options, which are underwritten by outside companies including Lloyd's of London, Crum & Forster and Spinnaker Insurance Co.
"We have a partnership with with an online travel agency that specializes in people traveling with pets," Gainullin said. "Conversion rates are already above 30% there."
Direct sales to consumers through advertising or its own website are now more a "playground" to test plan features and customer experience to roll out in its services to the industry. So the company isn't really competing head-to-head with larger insurers.
"Trying to buy a customer is not the right strategy," he said. "Organic growth and developing the relationship with the customer is the right strategy, partnerships is the right strategy, B2B distribution is great in travel insurance."
Instead it relies on distribution partners: Last June software giant SAP Concur's travel segment added Battleface coverage as an app for adding coverage for trip delays, interruption, cancelation and other issues with business and business-leisure travel.
Other partners include travel agencies, tour operators and airlines that offer trip insurance as an add-on.
For example, Eurochange, an online currency exchange service, at the end of February announced it would offer travel insurance "powered by Battleface."
Then there's white-labeling its tech, either for policies under another brand or for digital claims and customer service by Robin. Most of the payments and claims are automated, but there are 24/7 humans on call for emergencies, like arranging medical evacuations.
In October, Travel Insured International – owned by Battleface underwriter Crum & Forster – announced it switched to Robin Assist to deliver digital emergency service, such as travel rerouting or medical help.
Diversifying revenue is essential, Gainullin said. While integration with a large partner to offer Battleface-designed coverage can take several months, adding a Robin client is "literally sometimes as fast as just switching the telephone number to point to Robin Assist."
The startup is working to provide more of its tech to other insurers, such as digital payments in the currency of the country where the traveler is. Yes, he said, legacy insurers still collect premiums by check, and wire payment to a French hospital in U.S. dollars instead of Euros.
Battleface expanded to Australia and Canada last year, and Gainullin would like to expand to serve travelers from countries like Brazil and India.
The company is on a path to profitability, but Gainullin fends off frequent acquisition inquiries, waiting for the size and value to grow.
"The travel insurance space is crowded," Gainullin said. "But there is not a single company out there, that is able to do what we do: ... Technology, and then services in the same company.
"A lot of the companies, what you'll see is outsourcing," he said. "One company is creating products, another company's distributing products, another company's processing claims, and the fourth company is doing emergency travel assistance."
