Guest blog by Haris Khan, CEO at Novee
Unlocking the next era of underwriting with AI
The Novee Seed round marks a new chapter in commercial underwriting. We’ve raised £1.55m, led by 42Cap and supported by Insurtech Gateway, to build something we believe the market sorely needs: an AI assistant for underwriters that actually understands complex risk.
We’re not replacing underwriters — we’re freeing them. No more trawling through submissions or wasting hours on manual tasks. Just sharper decisions, faster workflows, and more time to actually underwrite.
That’s the vision we’re building toward. But it started, like most good ideas, with frustrations.
My First Startup (and Why It Didn’t Work)
Novee isn’t my first time around the block. Straight out of my Masters, I co-founded a startup that used AI to extract data from satellite imagery. We thought it could help property insurers assess risks more accurately.
We managed to line up a couple of pilots, raised some early support… and then our data provider pulled access to the imagery API we depended on. Even though the startup failed, there were plenty of lessons learned.
Luckily, I soon landed a role in Deloitte’s insurance consulting practice, where I was fortunate to work with some amazing people across several projects.
Silver linings, as they say.
From Consultant to Founder: Why I Took the Leap
I spent a few years in consulting, delivering AI projects for global insurers. It was fascinating — but also frustrating. I saw firsthand how static, hard-coded rules and siloed systems slowed everything down.
I remember a clear moment—we’d just launched another automation tool for underwriters. On paper, it ticked every box. But no one used it. Why? It extracted data, but with no context or nuance. It didn’t support real risk assessment. Worse, it created friction—asking underwriters to do work that was previously outsourced, without delivering immediate value
That stuck with me. Underwriting isn’t just a rules-based process. It’s an art. And AI could — if done right — help enable that.
The Birth of Novee: Solving the Right Problem
At Deloitte, I helped lead AI strategy for insurers across the London Market. That’s where I met my co-founder Arved Pohlabeln. He also worked across a number of underwriting strategy and data transformation projects — and saw the same problems I did. We teamed up with Ehsan Ziya, who had deep technical experience building insurance AI at scale.
We started small. A prototype. A few LinkedIn messages. A lot of listening.
Initially, we focused on risk triage — helping underwriters prioritise submissions. But we quickly saw natural selection at play: in the London Market, particularly for smaller / medium-sized carriers, underwriters typically already know what risks they want and naturally filter out the rest. Triage wasn’t the main bottleneck. So we evolved. Novee’s core capability focussed more on core risk assessment — analysing all documents within the submission against a comprehensive list of questions the underwriters want answers to, surfacing contextualised insights within their existing workflows and systems, and ultimately helping underwriters make faster, smarter decisions.
It picks out what’s important, compares it against what they care about, integrates with their existing systems and processes and creates a unified view of the risk.
More time for actual underwriting.
Why the Novee Seed Round Matters
The Novee Seed raise isn’t just capital. It’s validation from people who know this space inside and out.
42Cap brings deep SaaS experience. And Insurtech Gateway — recently named one of Europe’s leading startup hubs by the Financial Times — brings sector credibility, network, and operational support.
We’ve already benefited from Gateway’s hands-on approach. Richard has been challenging our thinking and really helping us see through the eyes of the underwriters.
What Makes Novee Different
We’re not the only startup looking to support underwriting teams — and that’s a good thing. The market is huge, underserved, and ready for innovation.
But here’s how we stand out:
- London Market focus: We’ve built Novee specifically for London Market underwriters — from how submissions are structured, to the language and workflows they use.
- Context, not just data: We don’t just extract static data items. We explain the “So What?” and why it matters — helping underwriters build confidence and apply judgement.
- Line-Specific Interfaces: From high-volume lines like Terrorism to complex risks like Energy, Novee adapts to how each class assesses risk. Each line has a tailored interface, powered by the same core engine for extracting, analysing, comparing, and synthesising submission data
The Vision: AI for Every Underwriter
Our mission is to transform the working life of commercial and specialty underwriters by embedding AI into their day-to-day—eliminating inefficiencies, enhancing judgement, and enabling faster, smarter decisions
Right now, Novee helps underwriters quickly and accurately:
- Determine ability to write the risk (e.g. risk appetite, guidelines)
- Assess the quality and insurability of that risk
- Automate manual tasks such as aggregation checks, slip comparison etc.
But in the next 12 months, we’re going further. We will be expanding our platform capabilities to handle additional use cases such as:
- Expanding to other classes of business
- Real-time pipeline and portfolio analytics
- Automating more manual tasks across the underwriting lifecycle
Eventually, every underwriter should have their own AI-assistant. One that evolves with them, learns with them, and frees them up to focus on what they do best.
Lessons Learned (So Far)
1. Cold outreach works
Some of our most valuable partnerships started with a simple message on LinkedIn. No warm intro. No pitch deck. Just a clear problem and a willingness to listen. If you’re solving something real, people are more open than you think — especially in insurance. Feedback is your most valuable asset in the early days.
2. Your assumptions are probably wrong
We assumed some features were no-brainers—but they weren’t. It sounded good in pitch decks, but didn’t reflect the actual workflows or priorities of underwriters in the London Market. Talk to users early. Let go of what you think they want — and listen for what they really need.
3. The right team is everything
I’m lucky to have Arved and Ehsan as co-founders. We’ve worked across the value chain — sales, product, tech — and our perspectives are complementary. We challenge each other, but we’re aligned in our mission. Don’t go it alone. If you’re building something, your co-founder fit matters more than your idea.
4. Find investors who get your world
We spoke to plenty of investors who didn’t understand insurance. Their questions were fair — but not useful. The difference with Insurtech Gateway was night and day. They didn’t just back us financially — they challenged our assumptions, sharpened our strategy, and helped us speak the industry’s language. Domain-fit investors are a huge unlock.
5. And above all: take the leap
Most people overestimate the risk of starting and underestimate the cost of staying put. For me, starting Novee wasn’t a radical move — it was the logical next step. The skills you’ll gain, the clarity you’ll get, and the growth you’ll experience are worth far more than the perceived “safety” of sticking to the known path.
What’s Next?
With the Novee Seed round behind us, our focus is product, pilots, and partnerships. We’re scaling our work with leading insurers, deepening our capabilities, and staying relentlessly focused on what underwriters actually need.
A note from Insurtech Gateway
“Thank you so much for sharing your story Haris, we are proud to be supporting a venture with one of the most considered approaches to underwriting AI we’ve seen. At Insurtech Gateway we are always eager to meet founders with deep domain expertise – like Haris. Experts who have experience pain points first hand want to fundamentally change how we assess risk. If you have a big idea or have already founded a pre-seed or seed insurtech, we have the experience and the tools to help you launch and scale faster. Check out our incubator and venture fund or get in touch.”