Is Insurtech Gateway a SaaS investor?
When Andrew Walker, Co-Founder & CEO at Asterias, first met Richard Chattock, CEO at Insurtech Gateway, he wasn’t sure we’d be the right kind of investor.
“I didn’t really think Insurtech Gateway were a viable investor for us because I did think of you more as an MGA enabler,” he admitted.
Fair enough. Supporting MGAs has been a big part of our story – but it’s not the whole story. Our portfolio of 45 businesses is around 60% MGA and 40% SaaS. So today, I want to highlight one of the many SaaS businesses we’ve backed.
When Richard met Andrew, he saw something different: a SaaS company with the potential to become a true infrastructure layer for the specialty insurance market. The kind of software that doesn’t just tidy up a process – but quietly rewrites the rules.
We Have the Data — Don’t We?
At its core, Asterias is tackling a problem many in insurance don’t even realise exists – or assume can’t be solved.
“Insurers say they’ve got loads of data,” Andrew told us, “but many don’t really use it wisely. They have high-level numbers, but they’re not getting into the granular opportunity of it.”
Asterias captures loss data at the point of entry – immediately structuring it for analysis. No more scanned PDFs. Just clean, structured, real-time data from the source.
As Andrew puts it:
“This is about changing the rails, not just adding another product on top.”
Specialist Insurance Investor
“We’re not building something easy,” Andrew said. “We needed investors who could understand the volume and nuance of the problem.”
This is where Gateway’s superpower became obvious: a team of investors with deep, lived experience in the insurance market.
From day one, Richard’s background as a former syndicate CEO helped ground the conversation in real-world logic. Robert brought sharp insight into sales and data sourcing. Stephen added his go-to-market energy to shape the external messaging.
“When I met with the three of them together recently,” Andrew said, “we covered insurance positioning, sales psychology, and market messaging all in one meeting. I left with actionable steps for each.”
Fundraising, with Support on Speed Dial
Fundraising is rarely a smooth ride – but Andrew valued Gateway’s constant support throughout the process of securing their £600k pre-seed round.
“At one point I was thinking, ‘God, this is taking longer than it should,’ but Gateway reassured me this was normal in the current market. They really leaned in – checking in on our runway, helping refine our deck, and making intros to investors. I felt like you had our back.”
Events helped too. “Going to conferences with ‘Insurtech Gateway’ above our name gave us credibility. People wanted to talk.”
Even Dom jumped into a few investor calls. “Eventually Dom said, ‘Actually Andrew, this isn’t really my role,’ but it still helped! Just being willing to get in the trenches meant a lot.”
SaaS, but Not as You Know It
Over the years, we’ve met thousands of SaaS founders with products designed to improve existing systems. Asterias is different. It’s creating entirely new rails for the market.
“Gateway gets SaaS – and they understand the mentality of an enterprise buyer,” Andrew said. “That’s what makes the conversations so efficient. We don’t have to explain how insurance works. We jump straight to solving the issue at hand.”
This isn’t your standard SaaS efficiency play. It’s model-shifting software.
“We’re not just clearing up bad data,” Andrew said. “We’re saying: you shouldn’t even be collecting data this way.”
Advice to Other Founders?
Not every investor speaks fluent insurance – and that matters.
“When I spoke to generalist investors, I spent the whole pitch explaining the problem,” Andrew said. “By the time they got it, we were out of time. Gateway got it immediately.”
That’s the difference between using your energy to translate your vision – and having a partner who helps amplify it.
Portfolio Power
From familiar faces at Lloyd’s Lab to obsessing over the best AI tools and data standards to in-person lunch and learn sessions. Andrew has felt the strength of the Gateway network.
“You feel this kind of quiet alliance,” he said. “You want each other to succeed.”
What’s Next for Asterias?
Asterias is starting with aviation, but the opportunity is much bigger. As more specialty and property carriers look to make data-driven decisions, they’ll need access to structured data – from the source.
Andrew’s vision? To become the ubiquitous source of loss information – not bolted on, but built into the system itself.
“We’re still making incremental changes,” he said, “but it’s foundational stuff. This isn’t a plug-in. It’s a different way of thinking.”
Get in Touch
At Gateway, we back early-stage founders taking on big structural problems in insurance. Asterias is exactly that kind of company – doing the unglamorous, complex, important work that enables smarter underwriting and a more connected industry.
We’re proud to be on the journey with them.
And to any SaaS founders out there who thought Gateway only backed MGAs?
Think again – and get in touch.