What Novella does

Novella is an AI-native wholesale insurance brokerage focused on the U.S. Excess & Surplus (E&S) market, founded in 2024 by former Lemonade executive Max Kane alongside other alumni of Lemonade, Microsoft, and adjacent firms. The company operates a single proprietary platform that automates the workflows traditional wholesalers perform manually: ingesting unstructured submission documents, underwriting new accounts, matching risks to appropriate E&S carriers and Lloyd's syndicates, and managing carrier-broker communications. Its product surface is organized into three modules — General Liability, Commercial Property, and the Lloyd's of London / Novella Property Program — and is licensed to operate across all 50 U.S. states.

The platform is built around AI agents that the company describes as the primary workforce ("agent first with people sitting on top"). These agents handle text and structured-data inputs to produce underwriting decisions, quote packages, draft communications, and carrier-matching recommendations. Distribution is dual-track: retail insurance brokers self-serve onto the platform via a free "Get Direct E&S Market Access" appointment flow, while risks are placed indirectly through a network of E&S carrier partners and Lloyd's syndicates. Novella monetizes via brokerage commissions on bound E&S policies rather than per-seat SaaS fees, with disclosed minimum premiums of $250,000 for the Lloyd's Property Program and Open Market offerings. Supporting operations include a U.S. headquarters in New York, an R&D facility in Tel Aviv, and regional sales offices in Miami and Houston, with additional U.S. offices planned.

Commercially, Novella reports having appointed more than 3,500 retail insurance agencies and reaching a seven-figure revenue run rate approximately five months after its late-2025 public launch. In May 2026 it closed a $21 million capital raise led by Brewer Lane Ventures, with Arch Capital Group participating as the sole strategic corporate investor alongside a syndicate of VC firms. The stated ambition is to become a top-five U.S. wholesale broker placing $10 billion in premium within a decade.

Name

Novella

Legal name

Novella Insurance Agency LLC

Website

https://bynovella.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Novella is an AI-native wholesale insurance brokerage that automates E&S underwriting, quoting, and carrier matching for U.S. retail insurance brokers across all 50 states, monetizing via brokerage commissions on bound policies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wholesale Insurance Brokerage

NAICS

Insurance Agencies and Brokerages (52421), Agencies, Brokerages, and Other Insurance Related Activities (5242)

SIC

Insurance Agents, Brokers & Service (6411), Insurance Carriers, Nec (6399)

akta.pro primary industry

Wholesale Insurance Brokerage (Excess & Surplus Lines) (FSAEADAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Insurtech-Enabled Brokerage (Digital Brokers & Aggregators) (FSAEADAN)

Keywords

• Wholesale insurance brokerage
• Excess and surplus insurance
• Commercial property insurance
• General liability insurance
• AI underwriting platform

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Wholesale insurance brokerage commissions: Novella acts as a specialty wholesale broker, placing hard-to-insure E&S risks with carriers and earning brokerage commissions on policies bound. Revenue scales with premium volume placed across commercial property, general liability, and Lloyd's-syndicated accounts.
2. Lloyd's open market & property program placements: Placement of large, hard-to-cover risks via Lloyd's syndicates and the proprietary Novella Property Program, with minimum premiums of $250,000 per account and support for layers up to $10M–$25M.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Novella operates an AI-native wholesale insurance brokerage platform that places hard-to-insure Excess & Surplus (E&S) commercial risks with carriers and Lloyd's of London syndicates on behalf of U.S. retail insurance brokers. Its AI agents underwrite accounts, match risks to appropriate underwriters, and manage broker-carrier communications, delivering quotes within 24 hours versus the weeks typical in traditional wholesale brokerage.

Product overview

Novella operates a single AI-native wholesale insurance brokerage platform that serves as the unified foundation for its E&S-market offering, with three primary product modules layered on top: General Liability, Commercial Property, and the Lloyd's of London / Novella Property Program for large US property risks placed via Lloyd's syndicates. The Novella Platform itself is the core product — an online insurance quoting and management solution where AI agents underwrite accounts, match risks with appropriate underwriters, and manage carrier/customer communications in real time — and the General Liability, Commercial Property, and Lloyd's modules are the named product lines that structure how that platform is sold and delivered to retail insurance agencies across all 50 US states.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Novella Property Program: Proprietary property program offering access to capacity through leading Lloyd's of London syndicates for large US property risks (minimum premium $250K, layers up to $10M and $25M for select risks).

Products and services

• Novella Platform AI-native online insurance quoting and management platform for retail insurance brokers that provides direct E&S market access, real-time submission tracking, live marketing reports, tailored shared and layered programs for tough risks, and quotes within 24 hours; licensed across all 50 U.S. states with R&D in Tel Aviv.
• General Liability Industry-specific general liability coverage from leading E&S carriers offering flexible, competitive protection against third-party claims, with standard $1M/$2M primary limits (up to $2M/$4M) and excess available; covers habitational, lessor's risk, community associations, vacant buildings, contractors, professional services, retail, restaurants/bars/nightclubs, hotels/motels, and environmental contractors.
• Commercial Property Commercial property coverage from leading E&S carriers for hard-to-place risks across habitational, commercial real estate, and hospitality classes, including coastal, earthquake, flood, and CAT-exposed programs; primary, ground-up, shared and excess layers up to nearly any TIV with deductible options from $5K to $100K.
• Novella Property Program (Lloyd's of London)

Quantifiable outcome

• Quotes delivered within 24 hours, vs. industry norm of weeks
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability7 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Lloyd's of LondonflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerNovella is part of Lloyd's startup program and maintains close relationships with Lloyd's syndicates. The firm places large, hard-to-cover risks through Lloyd's open market and via the proprietary Novella Property Program (layers up to $10M–$25M, minimum premium $250K). Novella plans to deepen ties into the London market and develop new proprietary programs.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Xceedance: Insurance technology and operations provider serving specialty insurers, MGAs and wholesalers; comparable to Novella as a technology-enabled intermediary attacking the same back-office and underwriting workflows.
• Cytora: AI-native risk-decisioning platform for commercial insurers; competes with Novella's underwriting-agent layer as an alternative path for incumbents to automate E&S workflows without building a full broker.
• Hyperexponential: AI pricing platform purpose-built for specialty and reinsurance markets; overlaps with Novella's carrier-matching and pricing automation thesis and could be adopted by incumbent wholesalers Novella is trying to displace.
• Earnix: AI-driven pricing and rating platform used by specialty and P&C insurers; overlaps with Novella's carrier-matching and underwriting automation capabilities and is a likely competitor or partner in the same AI-for-insurance category.

Direct peers

• CRC Group: U.S. wholesale and specialty insurance distributor serving retail brokers across property, casualty, and professional lines; competes with Novella for both retail agency appointments and carrier capacity on E&S placements.
• RPS (Risk Placement Services): National wholesale broker and managing general agency serving retail agents on hard-to-place commercial property, GL, and specialty risks; directly comparable to Novella on target customer (retail brokers) and product mix.
• Amwins: Major U.S. specialty wholesale insurance broker and underwriting manager with deep carrier access and a large producer network; competes directly with Novella for retail-broker E&S placements and Lloyd's-syndicate business.
• Burns & Wilcox: High-net-worth and specialty wholesale brokerage with strong property and habitational expertise; competes in the same coastal and CAT-exposed property niches Novella targets through its Commercial Property and Lloyd's Property Program offerings.
• IMA Financial Group: Independent insurance brokerage with a sizable wholesale and specialty practice; competes with Novella for retail agency relationships and carrier appointments in commercial property and GL segments.
• Ryan Specialty Group: Largest U.S. specialty insurance wholesale brokerage; the primary incumbent Novella explicitly benchmarks itself against on unit economics (e.g., 57% compensation ratio) and the dominant competitor for E&S broker appointments and carrier relationships.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/novellainsurance

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors9 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 Novella