Scout InsurTech Interview with Clearspeed

Clearspeed is a company that assesses risk with speech. They seek to help you quickly establish trust to clear people faster and make better decisions at scale. Chris Luiz sat with Director of Global Partnerships Program, Mitchell Kemper, to learn more about how Clearspeed is impacting the industry.

Who are Clearspeed’s clients?

Clearspeed serves a wide range of sectors that require fast, accurate and objective risk assessments. These include government, defense, insurance, banking, sports integrity and security. Within insurance, specifically, we work with some of the largest global carriers, providing solutions tailored to different points in their workflows.

What does your product do?

Clearspeed provides a unique, primary indication of risk, enabling organizations to clear or follow up with individuals quickly, confidently and at scale. Through responses to simple yes/no questions, our voice analytics technology identifies the presence or absence of risk without relying on personal identifiers like gender, race, location or credit score. By analyzing universal vocal characteristics, we deliver fast, unbiased risk assessments.

How much capital have you raised?

To date, we’ve raised $50 million, including our Series C financing in October 2022.

Was the company born from within or outside of the insurance industry?

Clearspeed was founded outside the insurance industry. It was initially for military applications. While the original focus was defense-related, we discovered broader opportunities in insurance and financial services, leading to purpose-built solutions for these industries.

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

• In 2023, we experienced 800 percent growth in client adoption.

• In 2024, we’re pacing at 150 percent year-over-year growth.

• We added over 20 new insurance carriers, including Allianz, RSA, and Zurich.

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

Insurers face significant challenges in leveraging data efficiently to assess risk at scale. Current systems often rely on incomplete, inaccurate, or expensive-to-acquire data, creating inefficiencies across workflows like underwriting, claims handling, and billing.

Additionally, trust between carriers and policyholders can be difficult to establish due to rising litigation, fraud and the demand for instantaneous policy issuance and claims payments. 

How does Clearspeed take a unique approach to providing value?

Clearspeed addresses this by creating an ecosystem of trust: we help carriers quickly clear about 80 percent of low-risk individuals while focusing resources on the 20 percent that require deeper investigation. This targeted approach optimizes resource allocation and enhances customer experience.

Clearspeed’s versatility allows carriers to integrate the technology across various workflows. For example, we can help verify garaging locations, confirm excluded drivers or enhance FNOL triaging to reduce unnecessary report ordering. By enabling carriers to play both offense and defense, we improve efficiency and customer satisfaction.

What inspired the team to start this company?

Clearspeed has a unique origin rooted in trust enablement. The company began with the goal of building a better world through improved risk assessment. Initially, we were founded to support U.S. Special Operations Command in vetting Afghan commando recruits in 2008. Our technology provided reliable, timely and unbiased risk insights that could be delivered in local languages, ensuring the safety of U.S. personnel while accelerating the clearance of low-risk individuals.

This mission translated into our broader goal of enabling trust in various domains, from insurance to government security. Whether it's paying claims in 24 hours or screening embassy staff, Clearspeed empowers organizations to make confident decisions while fostering fairness and efficiency.

Can you share any goals for the next 12 months?

• Expand U.S. Market Presence: Building on our success in the UK, where we work with 8 of the top 10 insurers, we aim to grow our U.S. client roster across P&C, life and health markets.

• Demonstrate Scalability: Showing the extensibility of Clearspeed’s solutions within carrier operations. Once we establish success in one use case, such as SIU or FNOL, our partners often expand usage to other workflows.

• Optimize Insurance Processes: Our overarching goal is to revolutionize insurance processes by enabling faster, more accurate and unbiased risk assessments across the policyholder lifecycle. This fosters trust, improves efficiency and enhances the experience for both insurers and policyholders.

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