Comeryx launches with $7.5m seed round

Comeryx Insurance has officially launched as a US commercial insurance startup alongside a 7.5 million dollar seed funding round led by Altai Ventures. Additional backing came from American Family Ventures, Intact Ventures, Boulder Ventures, Arch Capital Group and Echelon. The managing general agent is led by Dax Craig, co-founder of Pie Insurance. It is building an AI-native infrastructure supported by AI agents designed to eliminate manual underwriting processes. Its model replaces traditional paper-heavy workflows with a zero-touch automated underwriting experience. Initial focus is on the small business artisan contractor segment, which Comeryx estimates includes more than 500,000 US businesses generating under 10 million dollars in revenue. Distribution will be handled exclusively through wholesale brokers, with underwriting expected to begin later this year. Dax Craig, co-founder and CEO of Comeryx, said wholesale and retail agents often avoid small policies because carriers and MGAs utilize manual underwriting at a cost that is out of line with small premiums. With Comeryx, the company is bringing the AI-native infrastructure and disciplined underwriting necessary to serve this large market with the speed and ease brokers need to be profitable. Oleg Ilichev, managing partner at Altai Ventures, said CEO and co-founder Dax Craig is a serial entrepreneur with a proven track record in insurance having built companies including Pie Insurance and Valen Analytics. His background of combining technology and analytics in insurance provides Comeryx a unique advantage in delivering the efficiency that the wholesale market demands. Mike Mansell, principal at American Family Ventures, added the E&S market for small businesses has long been ripe for a technology-driven approach that does not compromise on underwriting rigor. We are proud to support redefining how these essential coverages are delivered to the small business artisan contractor segment.