Scout InsurTech Interview with HailMaster

HailMaster is an insurtech company. They seek to precisely detect and measure the damaged area with dents left on a car by the hail. Chris Luiz sat with Chief Product Manager, Vitalii Istushkin, to learn more about how ai.law is impacting the industry.

Who are your clients?

Our clients fall into three primary groups:

1. Insurance Companies – As an insurtech company, we help insurers gain more control over hail-damaged vehicles, digitize processes, increase transparency and optimize costs.

2. Third-Party Administrators (TPAs) – TPAs handle claims processing for insurance companies. Our solution speeds up assessments, especially for large-scale hail damage events affecting thousands of cars, reducing the need for double-checking and additional assessments.

3. Repair Businesses – We provide repair shops with a tool that facilitates quick and precise damage estimation, enabling smoother communication with insurance companies.

   
   

Additionally, we aim to partner with claims management systems and providers, integrating hail damage assessments into their existing processes, as this area remains underserved in the market.

What does your product do?

We offer a mobile application called HailMaster. It utilizes AI-powered dent recognition directly on a mobile device to assess hail damage on vehicles within 10-15 minutes.

Key capabilities include:

• AI-driven recognition and measurement of each dent

• Application of insurer-specific pricing models

• Automatic generation of repair cost estimates

• All processing happens on-device—no need for constant cloud connectivity

• Fast and highly accurate assessment with minimal manual input

  
  

The entire process is designed to be seamless and efficient, transforming the traditionally manual approach into a streamlined digital experience.

How much capital have you raised?

We are primarily bootstrapped and have self-funded our development by providing external consultancy services.

Additionally, we participated in Iowa's Global Insurance Accelerator program, which provided valuable mentorship and validation. We are now actively seeking strategic partnerships and investment to scale our operations further.

Was the company born from within or outside the industry?

We consider ourselves on the edge of the industry.

• One co-founder has extensive experience in insurtech, particularly in repair cost estimation systems.

• The other co-founder is an expert in computer vision, specializing in building highly technical AI-based solutions.

  
  

Our combined expertise allows us to develop a cutting-edge solution that bridges the gap between technology and insurance.

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

In the past year, we have:

• Signed contracts with two major client in Italy and Canada from the car repair and services field, securing stable revenue streams.

• Launched the Android version of HailMaster, expanding our market reach.

• Gained traction in North America and Europe, particularly in Italy, which is a hail-prone region driving innovation in hail damage assessment.

  
  

These milestones strengthen our foundation for further expansion.

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

The industry faces several key challenges:

1. Reliance on AI-Based Severity Guessing

   • Many companies estimate car damage based on severity scoring, which relies on statistical models rather than precise measurements.

   • This approach often leads to inaccurate estimates and inconsistencies.

2. Stationary Hail Scanners are doing a great job in the direction to digitalise the assessment process

   • But Stationary Scanners have limitations in scalability, mobility and what’s essential - price. 

   • Our solution is mobile first and allows easy scaling with low cost of adoption and management.

3. Cloud Dependency

   • Many solutions require internet connectivity, making them ineffective during large-scale hail events in areas with poor network coverage.

   • Our approach ensures everything runs on-device, eliminating dependency on cloud infrastructure.

4. Slow Sales Cycles

   • Insurance companies have long decision cycles (18-24 months), making it difficult for startups to survive while waiting for deals to close. This delay in adoption is a significant barrier to innovation in the space.

How does HailMaster take a unique approach to providing value?

Our value proposition is built on transparency, precision and efficiency.

• AI-Powered Dent Recognition – Instead of severity guessing, our AI identifies, measures and quantifies each dent, ensuring accurate assessments.

• User-Friendly & Transparent Process – The app provides clear calculations that are easy to verify, reducing disputes.

• Eliminating Human Error – Traditional methods rely on manual counting and estimation, leading to inconsistencies. Our AI-driven process eliminates these issues.

• Pen & Paper vs. Digital Transformation – Many competitors still rely on manual documentation; our solution modernizes and fully digitizes the process.

  
  

By offering on-device AI processing, we provide a more accurate, efficient and accessible solution than existing methods.

What inspired the team to start this company?

The idea was born out of passion and curiosity.

• One of the co-founders had been sketching concepts for AI-driven damage assessment since 2012.

• The rise of powerful mobile AI capabilities made it possible to finally bring these ideas to life.

• When the two co-founders met, their combined expertise in insurtech and AI created a natural synergy to build something groundbreaking.

  
  

Early validation from partners, clients and industry experts further reinforced the need for our solution, giving us the confidence to pursue development.

Can you share any goals for the next 12 months?

Our key goals for the next year include:

1. Expand in North America – Strengthen our presence and partnerships in the U.S. and Canada.

2. Roll Out New Features – Launch HailMaster.Connect is a marketplace that connects companies with trained assessors and repairers using our technology.

3. Introduce Fraud Prevention Tools – Develop solutions to combat hail damage fraud, which remains a significant issue in the insurance industry.

4. Scale Horizontally & Vertically – Expand our product’s reach while also adding new AI-powered services on top of our existing platform.

   
   

By the end of 2025, we aim to fully launch HailMaster Connect and establish a strong foothold in the U.S. market, bringing greater efficiency and transparency to hail damage assessments.

Scout InsurTech Thanks Its Presenting Partner

And Our Scout InsurTech Partners