What Herald does

Herald (legal entity HeraldAPI) builds API-based digital infrastructure for commercial insurance placement, connecting retail brokerages, wholesale brokerages, carriers, Managing General Agents (MGAs), and program managers through a single integration layer. The company is headquartered in New York City (with firmographic records listing Boston), was founded in 2021, and operates with 11–50 employees. Its flagship product, the Herald Placement System, comprises four modules — Workbench (intelligence engine), Inbox (email-native AI Agent), Data (API layer), and Connectivity (carrier integrations) — and is underpinned by a public REST API and an in-browser developer tool called HeRB (Herald Request Builder).

The platform indexes 86 carriers and MGAs, 228 API-enabled products, and 25 lines of business (as of November 2024), enabling brokerages to ingest submissions, extract data from emails and PDFs, quote, bind, and issue commercial policies through a unified workflow. In July 2025, Herald acquired Babbix, an AI-powered insurtech whose email-native AI agent enables native quoting inside Microsoft Outlook; a broker waitlist opened in October 2025. The company serves three primary segments — retail agencies, wholesale brokerages, and carriers/MGAs — with named mid-market customers including Baincroft, Invarion, and Bailey Klein. Distribution runs through enterprise field sales (Request a Demo), a self-serve developer portal (dashboard.heraldapi.com), and a certified partner program that includes BindHQ, Exavalu, Broker Buddha, Unqork, Zywave, and Joshu.

Herald monetizes through enterprise SaaS contracts (quote-based, non-publicly-priced), transaction or usage fees tied to API-enabled commercial insurance placements, and revenue from certified partners. The company has raised $20M total — an $8M seed in December 2021 led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, and a $12M round in October 2024 led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Brewer Lane Ventures, with Afore Capital and Underscore VC participating. Leadership is founder-led: co-founders Matthew Antoszyk (CEO), Duncan Crystal (CRO), and Jacob Barnett (CTO), with Jean Marc Turk leading GTM.

Name

Herald

Legal name

HeraldAPI

Website

https://heraldai.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Herald (HeraldAPI) provides API-based digital infrastructure for commercial insurance placement, connecting retail brokerages, wholesale brokers, carriers, and MGAs through a unified platform with email-native AI agents spanning 228 products and 25 lines of business.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Insurance Technology (InsurTech)

NAICS

Insurance Agencies and Brokerages (52421), Software Publishers (513210)

SIC

Insurance Agents, Brokers & Service (6411)

akta.pro primary industry

Policy Administration, Underwriting & Rating Platforms (Core Insurance SaaS) (FSAGAGAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Customer Engagement, CRM & Agent/Broker Enablement Platforms (FSAGAGAD)

Keywords

• Commercial insurance API
• Insurance placement system
• Broker carrier connectivity
• Insurance data infrastructure
• Insurance workflow automation

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Enterprise SaaS (API Platform): Quote-based enterprise sales motion gated by a 'Request a Demo' CTA, suggesting platform/SaaS contracts (likely annual or multi-year) charged to brokerages, carriers, and MGAs integrating the Herald API. Pricing is not publicly disclosed.
2. API-Enabled Commercial Insurance Transactions: Revenue tied to broker use of the unified API to quote, bind, and issue commercial insurance policies across 86 carriers/MGAs, 228 API-enabled products, and 25 lines of business. Likely includes transaction- or usage-based component on quote/bind volume.
3. Certified Partner Channel: Revenue from Technology and Services partners (BindHQ, Exavalu, Broker Buddha, Unqork, Zywave) who resell, implement, or integrate Herald for their brokerage and MGA clients.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Herald builds an API-driven digital infrastructure platform for the U.S. commercial insurance market, connecting insurance brokers directly to carrier systems to automate submission, quoting, placement, and binding workflows. The platform ingests broker submissions (including unstructured email), normalizes insurance data, and routes it to carrier APIs for real-time quotes and binds, replacing manual email-, PDF-, and rekey-based processes. Its offering combines a core placement system, developer APIs, an AI-powered email agent (Babbix), and developer tools such as the Insurance API Index.

Product overview

Herald offers a single unified platform — the Herald Placement System — that orchestrates the commercial insurance placement lifecycle, with four named modules built on top: Workbench (the intelligence engine and AI-agent host), Inbox (the AI Agent that meets brokerages in their email inbox), Data (the API layer that exposes the underlying insurance data and APIs to brokerages and developers), and Connectivity (the integration layer that connects brokerages with carriers and trading partners). Underpinning the platform is the public Herald REST API (with bearer-token auth, webhooks, sandbox and production environments, and a 120 requests/minute rate limit) and the HeRB developer request builder. Two AI-agent capabilities are layered onto the platform: the Inbox AI agent and the Babbix email-native AI agent, which Herald acquired in July 2025. Feature modules that extend the platform include the Autofill API (Native Email Quoting, GA March 2025), Data Extractions (Beta, October 2024), and the Parameters API (Beta, September 2024), and the platform is also accompanied by the Insurance API Index, a public directory of 80+ integrated carriers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Babbix: Email-native AI agent for commercial insurance, acquired by Herald in July 2025 and marketed as a flagship product for brokers.
• HeRB (Herald Request Builder)

Products and services

• Herald Placement System
• Herald API
• Babbix
• Insurance API Index
• HeRB

Quantifiable outcome

• Automated re-marketing efforts reduce churn by over 64%
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration20 records

AI capability9 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core gtm partner, flagship (acquired), core technology partner and core services partner.

• Joshucore gtm partnerGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 August 2025Joshu and Herald partnered to boost insurer reach with no-code technology, per FinTech Global coverage in August 2025.
• Babbixflagship (acquired)Strategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2025Herald announced the strategic acquisition of Babbix, an AI-powered insurtech startup, in July 2025. Babbix's email-native AI agent powers Herald & Babbix Native Quoting in Outlook, enabling brokers to extract submission data and return a panel of quotes inside email with no new code required.
• BindHQcore technology partnerTechnology or IntegrationBindHQ is a cloud-based agency management system built for MGAs, MGUs, and wholesale brokers that streamlines policy administration, compliance, and operations. Listed on Herald's Partnerships page as a certified Technology partner.
• Exavalucore services partnerImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerExavalu is a global technology consulting company focused on the insurance industry. Listed on Herald's Partnerships page as a certified Services partner that helps brokerages and insurers implement Herald.
• Broker Buddhacore technology partnerTechnology or IntegrationBroker Buddha delivers a digital client experience for brokers to enable first-class, personalized service. Listed on Herald's Partnerships page as a certified partner.
• Unqorkcore technology partnerTechnology or IntegrationUnqork empowers businesses to streamline the development of complex software solutions by using a codeless platform. Listed on Herald's Partnerships page as a certified partner.
• Zywavecore technology partnerTechnology or IntegrationZywave provides insurance software for brokers with tools for client and sales management. Listed on Herald's Partnerships page as a certified partner.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Bold Penguin: Bold Penguin operates a commercial insurance exchange and API that connects small-business brokers with multiple carriers for quote, bind, and issue workflows — directly overlapping with Herald's middle-office placement API and target customer (retail commercial brokers).
• Tarmika: Tarmika provides a commercial-lines quoting platform and API that lets independent agents rate and quote across multiple carriers from a single interface, mirroring Herald's unified-API approach to multi-carrier connectivity for brokerages.

Broad incumbents

• Applied Systems: Applied Systems is the largest provider of agency management systems (Applied Epic/EZLynx) for retail and wholesale brokerages and has been adding API and AI capabilities; it competes for the same brokerage IT budget as Herald but as part of a full agency management suite.
• Vertafore: Vertafore provides agency management, rating, and carrier-connectivity software (AMS, Sagitta, PL Rating) for commercial lines brokerages and represents the established alternative to Herald's connectivity layer within the brokerage stack.
• Duck Creek Technologies: Duck Creek sells core insurance software and APIs to carriers and MGAs, often competing head-to-head with Herald for the carrier/MGA side of the marketplace by enabling API-based product distribution.

Emerging players

• Planck: Planck applies AI to extract structured data from insurance documents and ACORD forms for underwriting and submission workflows — directly overlapping with Herald's Data Extractions and Autofill API capabilities on the broker submission side.
• Indio (Applied Systems): Indio is a digital commercial insurance application platform (acquired by Applied Systems) that brokers use to digitize submissions, comparable to Herald's placement Workbench for the same middle-office workflow.
• CoverWallet: CoverWallet is a digital commercial insurance platform serving small businesses and brokers with API-enabled quoting and binding — overlapping with Herald on API-driven commercial placement, with a heavier tilt toward direct SMB distribution.
• Slice Labs: Slice Labs is a digital insurance platform and on-demand insurance-as-a-service provider that leverages APIs to embed insurance into digital workflows, making it comparable to Herald's API-first commercial insurance infrastructure.

Others

• Zywave: Zywave sells broker-facing content, rating, and workflow tools and is also a Herald certified technology partner; it represents an adjacent platform that integrates with Herald rather than competing head-to-head, but reaches the same brokerage buyer.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/heraldapi

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Herald