A bank president turned public company CEO may not be the most obvious choice for a tech startup founder.
But for Trevor Burgess, the former CEO of C1 Bank, it has made sense since the start.
"What we were known for is how we could use technology to go to market and attract customers in new and innovative ways," he said of his St. Petersburg bank company that went public in 2014. "When I got to build Neptune Flood from scratch, I got to take the lessons from running a tech-focused bank and say, 'How can I build something from scratch that can both capture innovation and run in a very efficient way?'"
He ended up investing in and ultimately heading up Neptune Flood, an insurance technology startup that uses artificial intelligence to better estimate flood insurance claims. He took over the company in January 2018 and since then, has helped it grow from 5,000 policies sold to an expected 100,000 by the end of the year.
"A lot of natural disaster-focused and insurance technology companies are funded by venture capital and private equity firms; this is funded by me, and when you're an owner-operator, sometimes you have a bit of a different view," he said. "Mine is building a long-term, sustainable company and one that can make money."
He's well on his way. He most recently acquired Jumpstart Insurance Solutions, a California-based startup that offers parametric earthquake solutions.
"Because we're a profitable company, it allows us to do things like acquisitions in year four of operating, where most startup companies are on a different path," Burgess said. Financial details of the Jumpstart deal were not disclosed. "Jumpstart was an expert in parametric insurance, which is where one thing happens and you get the payout. It's an interesting new kind of insurance and that team is expert at it."
He said the Jumpstart acquisition was a "unique opportunity" and Neptune is not entirely focused on creating a string of acquisitions. However, he plans to break into the evacuation insurance space as its next product offering.
Neptune has also secured a partnership with Texas-based National Automotive Programs LLC allowing its platform to be used in 22,000 NAPA Auto Parts locations across the nation.
Neptune is up to 38 employees and based in downtown St. Pete, which Burgess has no plans of leaving any time soon.
"This is the second business I've grown here and it's a place people want to live," he said. "I've always described it as an Austin of Florida. It has that vibe, with the combination of the arts, the downtown is walkable — it's a very livable city."
Before heading up Neptune Flood and C1 Bank, Burgess spent a decade working at Morgan Stanley helping companies go public, which laid the groundwork for when he went public with C1 Bank on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BNK). But with his newest venture, Burgess is keeping his options open.
"When we went public on the New York Stock Exchange, it's a bit like the Super Bowl for American businesses," he said. "But being public is something that requires a lot of additional work and it's something I only recommend if they really need to. So it's something we would consider in the future but not in the immediate future."
