What's happening
Distribution is moving outside the insurer's own website. DoorDash is launching restaurant insurance with Authentic, Aviva and insureMO are rolling out an embedded platform across Europe, and Kin is opening its quoting to AI shopping agents. Money is following the specialists: Slingshot Insurance raised $27 million and Atlian, a construction insurance software start-up, closed a pre-seed round. On the back end, carriers are buying tools for claims and property risk, such as GEICO's tie-up with Entegral and Donegal's wider use of ZestyAI.
Why it matters
When a platform or a chatbot owns the customer relationship, insurers risk becoming the supplier behind someone else's brand, so the fight shifts to who controls the data and the checkout. Watch whether more carriers expose their quoting to AI agents, and whether the claims handling that follows these sales keeps up. Regulators are also paying attention: Washington has set new deadlines for how quickly claims must be handled.