Kelsey Byrne Kelly is the co-founder and COO of eSpecialty Insurance, a digital agency that uses technology to provide small- and mid-sized businesses with expert advisory on professional liability and cyber insurance.
eSpeciality solves for two pain points in speciality lines: market access and availability of expertise. Empowers the small business owner to get access to high-quality, unbiased market expertise. Kelsey is focused on understanding the customer through the lens of technology to make expertise scalable.
eSpeciality utilizes application information to understand exposures, inform the customer and make coverage recommendations straight-through to making the quote. Small business owners generally see insurance as a ’check-the-box’ activity to keep moving, so eSpeciality shows the full breadth of quotes but makes a strong recommendation tailored to their business, for example focusing on coverages and services in the event of a cyber event. Currently, small business owners tend to be more concerned about data breach; however ransomware and phishing-financial fraud are the topics of higher concern and claims activity.
During 2023-2024, eSpeciality is branching out from cyber into E&O, which is more standardized but still requires a high level of expertise.
Before starting eSpecialty, Kelsey led growth at Overstock.com and Bain Capital portfolio company Innocor. She began her career in finance at Morgan Stanley and has an MBA from Dartmouth.
This episode was recorded live at Insurtech Insights New York 2023 in conjunction with InsurTech Association. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.