Vave
Vave is a technology-driven Managing General Agent delivering algorithmic underwriting for catastrophe-exposed E&S property insurance in the US via white-labelled APIs, offering instant bindable quotes across homeowners, commercial property, flood, earthquake, and California homeowners lines.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersDover, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Vave does
Vave is a technology-driven Managing General Agent (MGA) that delivers algorithmic underwriting for catastrophe-exposed excess and surplus (E&S) property insurance in the United States. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in the US (legal entities: Vave Underwriting Agency, Inc. in Michigan; Vave Digital Services Ltd. in London), Vave operates a white-labelled API platform that produces instant, bindable quotes across five product lines: US Commercial Property, US Homeowners, US Flood, US Earthquake, and California Homeowners (launched April 2026). The platform evaluates 800+ data fields per risk using 20-25 rating factors, compared with the 5-9 factors typical of traditional underwriting, and applies computer vision models to aerial imagery for property condition and damage assessment.
Vave generates 10,000+ quotes per day and has quoted 4 million+ unique risks covering $3.6 trillion in exposure across 50+ US states since inception. Its revenue model is that of a delegated authority MGA: Vave binds business on behalf of capacity providers (including Canopius under a multi-year agreement and Ascendri via a $10M capacity ladder) and earns commission on gross written premium, with distribution delivered through API integrations, agents, and wholesalers. In April 2026, Vave was acquired by Acrisure from Canopius and became part of Acrisure's portfolio of 12 MGAs, gaining access to Acrisure's global broker and distribution network while Canopius retained a multi-year capacity relationship.
Vave firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Vave
- Legal name
- Vave Digital Services Ltd.
- Website
- https://vavemga.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Vave is a technology-driven Managing General Agent delivering algorithmic underwriting for catastrophe-exposed E&S property insurance in the US via white-labelled APIs, offering instant bindable quotes across homeowners, commercial property, flood, earthquake, and California homeowners lines.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Vave industry classification
Industry- Product category
- E&S Property Insurance Technology
- NAICS
- Insurance and Employee Benefit Funds (5251)
- SIC
- Insurance Agents, Brokers & Service (6411)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Risk Modeling & Pricing Analytics (FSAOAIAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Claims & Loss Analytics (incl. Reserving Support) (FSAOAIAF)
Keywords
Where Vave is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Dover
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Vave business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- MGA Underwriting Commission: As a Managing General Agent, Vave earns commissions and fees from insurance carriers for underwriting property risks. Revenue is generated through premium volume placed with capacity providers including Canopius under multi-year agreements.
- API Platform Fees: Technology fees from providing API access to distribution partners for quote generation, binding, and policy servicing capabilities.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Custom Commercial Property coverage with Maximum Location Total Insurable Value of $3.7m and Maximum Policy Limit of $6.2m |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels4 records
Vave product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Vave operates as a Managing General Agent (MGA) that delivers algorithmic underwriting via white-labelled API services for US catastrophe-exposed Excess & Surplus (E&S) property insurance. The company produces instant bindable quotes across commercial property, homeowners, flood, and earthquake lines by combining proprietary technology with augmented data sources from partners such as KatRisk, e2value, EigenRisk, Reask, Vexcel, and GIC. Vave generates over 10,000 quotes daily through API integrations with insurance distributors and has quoted more than 4 million unique properties since its 2019 launch.
Product overview
Vave is a technology-driven Managing General Agent (MGA) that operates as a precision underwriting platform for catastrophe-exposed Excess & Surplus (E&S) property insurance in the US market. The core offering consists of five insurance products: US Commercial Property, US Homeowners Property, US Flood, US Earthquake, and California Homeowners. These products are delivered through a proprietary algorithmic underwriting platform accessible via white-labelled API services that produce instantly bindable quotes. The platform leverages data from multiple partners including flood hazard data (KatRisk), property valuation (e2value), aerial imagery (GIC, Vexcel), exposure management (EigenRisk), and hurricane forecasting (Reask) to power real-time risk assessment and pricing. Vave was acquired by Acrisure in April 2026 and now operates within Acrisure Underwriting's platform of 12 MGAs while continuing under its brand name.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- US Commercial Property Commercial property insurance offering for Main Street occupancies, particularly competitive on the Atlantic seaboard and southeastern United States. Provides ISO Basic and Special form with comprehensive optional endorsements for habitational, mercantile, offices and warehouses. Maximum Location Total Insurable Value of $3.7m and Maximum Policy Limit of $6.2m. Delivered through Vave's algorithmic underwriting API platform.
- US Homeowners Property Homeowners insurance offering US-wide cover for HO-3, HO-5, HO-6, and DP-3 forms with Maximum Total Insurable Value of $3.7m, covering primary, secondary, and seasonal homes with all peril, wind-only, and ex-wind options. Prefers newer, well-maintained properties. Delivered through Vave's algorithmic underwriting API platform.
- US Flood Flood insurance providing competitive cover for primary and excess homeowners and small commercial properties in FEMA flood zone designations A, B, C, and X across the United States. Primary coverage matches NFIP with maximum coverage A of $1.5m and maximum building limit of $750k. Excess coverage offers maximum coverage A of $8m with minimum excess of NFIP limits. Delivered through Vave's algorithmic underwriting API platform with high-resolution KatRisk flood hazard data.
- US Earthquake Standalone earthquake coverage for Main Street commercial properties on the West Coast of the United States, covering habitational, mercantile, offices, and warehouses with maximum coverage limit of $3.7m. Prefers newer and well-maintained properties. Delivered through Vave's algorithmic underwriting API platform.
- California Homeowners Targeted homeowners coverage for well-managed risks across California with disciplined appetite focused on properties exposed to modest wildfire risk. Maximum Total Insurable Value of $3.8m with flexible forms HO-3, HO-5, HO-6, DP-3, plus optional coverages including Ordinance or Law, Loss Assessment, and Equipment Breakdown. Delivered through Vave's algorithmic underwriting platform.
- Vave API Platform White-labelled API services producing instant bindable quotes for catastrophe-exposed E&S property risk, allowing insurance agents and distributors to access products electronically and bind and service policies in real time. Delivers more than 10,000 quotes per day accessing over 800 data fields per risk for accurate near real-time insurance quotes. Underwrites and prices algorithms validate quotes against underwriting appetite automatically.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 10,000 quotes generated daily
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Vave
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Vave technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration6 records
AI capability7 records
Feature6 records
Vave partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- AcrisurecoreGlobal fintech and insurance group that completed acquisition of Vave from Canopius in April 2026. Vave operates under Acrisure Underwriting's platform of 12 MGAs while maintaining its brand and leadership team. Supports continued investment in proprietary technology and expansion of products, coverages, and geographies.
- KatRiskcoreStrategic flood hazard data partnership providing high-resolution flood risk assessment at location-specific level. KatRisk's transparent and robust methodology provides data granularity enabling Vave to assess complex inland flood zones where FEMA maps alone are insufficient. Partnership evolved from sole data provider to strategic collaboration supporting algorithmic underwriting workflow.
- Geospatial Insurance Consortium (GIC)coreHigh-resolution aerial imagery and data analytics partnership used extensively after Hurricane Ian to improve loss estimation. GIC's overflight imagery within 24 hours of storms combined with AI modules identifies damage ratio scores for properties.
- e2valuecoreProperty valuation data partnership providing innovative replacement cost calculations for structures. Delivers accuracy and reliability for single-family homes and complex commercial properties through granular property details and market-based approach, ensuring valuations align with actual replacement costs.
- EigenRiskcoreLive exposure data partnership using EigenPrism platform for daily data uploads. Provides certainty around exposure in force at time of landfall and ability to visualize localized distribution of exposure during catastrophe events.
- ReaskcoreHurricane hazard data partnership providing LiveCyc product for ensemble windspeed footprints ahead of landfall and Metryc product for high-resolution post-landfall surface-level peak-gust footprints. Enables probabilistic outcome analysis and hazard intensity attribution to exposure locations.
- VexcelcoreRemote sensing technology partnership providing very high resolution grey sky aerial imagery and location-level damage assessment computer vision AI models. Used for grey sky damage estimation in areas inaccessible after catastrophic events, allowing portfolio-level damage verification.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Vave competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Slide Insurance: Florida-headquartered catastrophe-exposed property MGA using technology-driven underwriting for homeowners. Like Vave, Slide targets E&S coastal property risks in catastrophe-prone regions, though with less of an API-first architecture and more direct retail distribution.
- Kin Insurance: Direct-to-consumer homeowners insurer with a technology platform focused on catastrophe-exposed states, particularly Florida. Kin is comparable as a tech-first homeowners writer in coastal markets, though it sells direct rather than through agents and APIs.
- Openly: Premium homeowners insurance MGA distributing through independent agents via an API platform. Openly is comparable to Vave in targeting well-maintained, higher-value homeowners through technology-enabled broker distribution, though its appetite skews toward standard risks rather than catastrophe-exposed E&S.
- Hippo Insurance: Tech-forward homeowners MGA using data and smart home technology for risk selection and pricing. Hippo competes in the homeowners E&S and catastrophe-adjacent space, though with a more consumer-direct brand and less emphasis on API distribution to wholesale brokers.
Emerging players
- Cytora: AI-powered commercial insurance underwriting platform digitizing submission intake and risk evaluation for specialty insurers. Cytora is comparable to Vave in applying AI and external data to specialty underwriting workflows, though it focuses on intake automation across multiple lines rather than property CAT underwriting.
- Accelerant: Data and analytics platform serving MGAs and specialty insurers, enabling better risk selection and capital allocation. Accelerant is comparable to Vave in its MGA-tech focus, though it operates as an enablement layer for other MGAs rather than underwriting directly.
- Tarmika: Comparative rating and insurance platform built for independent agents, with multi-carrier rate, quote, and bind workflows. Tarmika is comparable to Vave as a technology platform serving the agent channel for commercial and personal lines, though it is a distribution interface rather than an underwriting MGA.
Broad incumbents
- Palomar Holdings: Specialty property and earthquake insurer serving catastrophe-exposed risks across the US. Palomar is a broader specialty carrier with overlapping CAT property and earthquake products, competing with Vave on underwriting capacity and broker relationships though without Vave's API-first delivery model.
- Kinsale Insurance: Excess and surplus lines insurer with a specialty property book and disciplined underwriting. Kinsale is comparable to Vave as an E&S property underwriter, though Kinsale is a balance-sheet carrier with broader specialty lines beyond property and traditional broker distribution.
- Berkley Specialty: Specialty E&S division within W. R. Berkley Corporation writing commercial and residential property including catastrophe-exposed risks. Berkley Specialty is comparable to Vave as a US E&S property writer, though it is part of a much larger carrier group with broader specialty lines and traditional underwriting processes.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Vave social profiles
Digital presenceVave compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Vave financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Vave leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Vave funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Vave M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Vave
What does Vave do?
Vave operates as a Managing General Agent (MGA) that delivers algorithmic underwriting via white-labelled API services for US catastrophe-exposed Excess & Surplus (E&S) property insurance. The company produces instant bindable quotes across commercial property, homeowners, flood, and earthquake lines by combining proprietary technology with augmented data sources from partners such as KatRisk, e2value, EigenRisk, Reask, Vexcel, and GIC. Vave generates over 10,000 quotes daily through API integrations with insurance distributors and has quoted more than 4 million unique properties since its 2019 launch.
Is Vave a public or private company?
Vave is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Vave founded?
Vave was founded in 2019. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Vave based?
Vave is headquartered in Dover, United States, in the North America region.
How does Vave make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. MGA Underwriting Commission is the primary driver. The others are API Platform Fees.
Who are Vave's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Slide Insurance, Kin Insurance, Openly and Hippo Insurance. Emerging players are Cytora, Accelerant and Tarmika. Broad incumbents are Palomar Holdings, Kinsale Insurance and Berkley Specialty.
Does Vave have an API?
Yes. Vave's white-labelled API services allow insurance distributors to access products electronically, send property information for quotes, request to bind or request endorsements, and service policies in real time. The API delivers more than 10,000 quotes per day. To assess risk, the system accesses more than 800 data fields to provide an accurate, near real-time insurance quote. Quotes are analysed for risk metrics and validated against underwriting appetite automatically, with premium calculated by Vave's algorithmic pricing engine and sent back to the broker.
What industry is Vave in?
Vave's product category is E&S Property Insurance Technology. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAOAIAA, Risk Modeling & Pricing Analytics, with a secondary code of FSAOAIAF, Claims & Loss Analytics (incl. Reserving Support). Its NAICS code is 5251 and its SIC code is 6411.