Scout InsurTech Interview with Certificial

Certificial is redefining Certificate of Insurance (COI) management with its all-in-one platform built to eliminate risk, ensure compliance and reduce operational friction for every party involved. Chris Luiz sat down with CEO, Peter Teresi, to learn how Certificial is impacting the industry.

Who are your clients?

At Certificial, we consider every party involved in the insurance verification process a client. That includes the certificate holder requesting the COI, the supplier or contractor who purchased the coverage and the agency issuing it. Each stakeholder interacts with a purpose-built module within the same shared platform, enabling a level of transparency, automation and coordination that simply isn’t achievable through disconnected or manual workflows.

What does your product do?

Certificial is a fully digital platform that modernizes how businesses verify insurance coverage for their suppliers and contractors. We move the process from static, paper-based certificates to a dynamic, data-driven model that updates in real time throughout the entire business relationship.

Insurance agencies can automate COI issuance while providing visibility into policy data, endorsements and compliance status, all mapped against their specific requirements. Thanks to our system-to-system integrations, any changes in coverage are detected and instantly communicated to all parties. It's a seamless, real-time model that benefits everyone involved.

How much capital have you raised?

We’ve successfully completed two rounds of outside capital, which have equipped us with the resources and backing to scale rapidly and invest deeply in the growth of the platform. This support has been critical to accelerating innovation and extending our reach.

Was the company born from within or outside the industry?

Certificial was born from within the industry. I come from the insurance industry, after spending over a decade with ACORD, having witnessed how inefficient and error-prone the process could be. My co-founder, Rob Blanchette, came from the procurement world, where he saw similar challenges from the buyer's perspective. It was clear to both of us that the process was broken, just from different angles. That shared understanding became the catalyst to build a solution that could finally connect all the dots.

What growth metrics have you accomplished over the last 12 months?

Over the past year, we’ve more than doubled in size across key metrics, including revenue, platform activity and overall engagement. One standout milestone is crossing 24,000 registered agents and brokers on the platform, a clear signal that we’re solving a pain point that’s both real and widespread. It’s not just growth for growth’s sake, but meaningful adoption.

Within your domain, what is the current challenge that the industry is facing?

The challenges vary across stakeholders, but they all stem from inefficiency and lack of visibility.

For agents and brokers, the sheer volume of manual COI servicing is a significant burden. Some have even told us they’d prefer to lose a client than continue managing COIs manually because the economics just don’t work.

For insureds, delays in verification can mean delays to start a project or getting paid. It’s a frustrating bottleneck for businesses that are otherwise ready to go.

And for certificate holders, the core issue is risk exposure. They rely on vendors, but have no reliable way to ensure coverage is active or compliant. Static COIs are outdated the moment they’re issued, and that’s simply not good enough for managing real-world risk in today’s environment.

Across the board, the current process creates a lot of friction with very limited return. Our job is to flip that equation and make the process valuable, efficient and highly intelligent.

How does Certificial take a unique approach to providing value?

We approach the problem holistically. Rather than focusing on just one stakeholder or a single piece of the process, Certificial was purpose-built to support the entire insurance verification lifecycle, from initial issuance to real-time compliance tracking.

This end-to-end architecture allows every party to work within the same system with shared data and consistent workflows. It’s this integrated design that unlocks the full potential of automation, accuracy and collaboration.

What inspired the team to start this company?

​​It was really about solving a problem we knew all too well. I saw how outdated the process was from the insurance side, and Rob had experienced the same frustration trying to help his clients manage COIs at scale within large enterprises. We both recognized that this wasn’t just a matter of inefficiency, but was a systemic issue causing real risk and lost time.

Rather than make incremental improvements to a broken process, we set out to reimagine the entire model. The result became Certificial, a platform designed from the ground up to eliminate the root problems, not just the symptoms.

Can you share any goals for the next 12 months?

We’ve established a strong foundation in the U.S., and now we’re turning our focus to broader expansion. We’re actively growing our footprint in Canada and evaluating global opportunities with strong encouragement from our domestic clients who have a presence abroad.

What I’m most excited about, though, is amplifying the success stories. When we see our platform directly helping companies manage risk, avoid costly delays or even prevent claims, that’s the kind of impact that fuels us. We’re not just digitizing a form, we’re helping transform how businesses protect themselves.

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