Scout InsurTech Interview with RiskAdvisor

RiskAdvisor is an InsurTech company built by insurance agents, for insurance agents. They seek to help insurance agents advise their clients on their true risk while also simplifying the distribution of their data. Chris Luiz sat with CEO and Founder, David Watson, to learn more about how RiskAdvisor is impacting the industry.

Who are your clients?

We’re primarily focused on independent insurance agencies. While we’ve had strong interest from MGAs and wholesale brokers, we’re intentionally starting with agencies. As we build out the AI-powered underwriting features and gain more traction with data integrations, we do expect to expand more directly into MGAs and carrier partnerships.

What does your product do?

RiskAdvisor is a guided conversational platform built to help agents ask better questions when engaging with clients. A big issue we faced in my agency was that we’d get through the first layer of questions, but then drop the ball on the second and third layers that really determine risk. Our platform helps prevent those gaps by guiding the agent through a smarter, dynamic intake process.

On the backend, we distribute that data across CRMs, raters, virtual assistants, wholesale brokers and sometimes directly to management systems. And soon, we’re rolling out underwriting AI. This part of the platform will evaluate carriers’ eligibility rules in real-time as the agent fills out the application, effectively pre-qualifying or disqualifying carriers before a quote is even run. Think of it like a traffic light. Green means eligible, yellow flags a concern that may need underwriting input and red means the carrier is a no-go. This not only saves time but reduces wasted effort on quotes that would never bind.

How much capital have you raised?

From Agency Owners, Users, 101 Weston Labs and BrokerTech Ventures, we have raised around $850,000.

Was the company born from within or outside the industry?

It was born from within. I’ve been in the insurance world since 2012 and launched a scratch agency in 2016. We merged that into a larger agency in 2018 and eventually sold it in 2021. RiskAdvisor was born inside that merged agency when I was trying to improve how we managed intake and quoting. We were juggling fillable PDFs, manual data entry, virtual assistants and emails flying everywhere. It was inefficient and prone to error. That pain is what sparked the creation of RiskAdvisor.

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

We’ve had meaningful traction, especially through engagements at events like BrokerTech. We’ve had strong validation from large agencies, including those in the top 50 nationally, and we’re gaining attention from MGA partners like Amwins and RT Specialty. That kind of feedback confirms we’re building something that solves a real problem.

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

There’s a lot. For independent agents, one major challenge is dealing with the complexity of multiple carrier portals. It’s overwhelming. There’s also the risk of asking the wrong questions up front, which leads to cancellations or rewrites when the risk is misunderstood. Another issue is that many agents don’t fully understand or utilize wholesale brokers, often due to a stigma or lack of familiarity. That leads them to place business with unstable carriers, which is risky for everyone.

And then there’s the matter of proprietary underwriting guidelines. Technically, those can’t be shared between agencies even if two agents are in the same state with access to the same portals. That makes it really hard to create shared tools. We’re approaching that problem carefully, using AI to parse and store that data locally at the agency level, so we can stay compliant while still helping agents make better decisions.

How does RiskAdvisor take a unique approach to providing value?

We’re building smarter workflows that help agents go deeper with their clients by asking better questions, capturing better data and writing more accurate policies. Our AI doesn’t just help agents get quotes faster; it helps them get the right quotes from the right carriers based on real underwriting logic. We don’t stop there. We make it easier to push that data where it needs to go whether that’s into a CRM, to a virtual assistant or to an underwriter. Long term, we think we can even turn carriers into customers by showing them how to reduce underwriting waste and increase bind rates with better data.

What inspired the team to start this company?

It really started from a personal place, trying to solve problems I experienced firsthand as an agency owner. Our process was clunky and manual, and I knew there had to be a better way. Once we started building tools to help internally, it became clear that other agencies were dealing with the same thing. That’s when we knew this could be something bigger.

Scout InsurTech Thanks Its Presenting Partner

And Our Scout InsurTech Partners