The Artificial Intelligence Underwriting Company Launches with $15 Million Seed Funding
The Artificial Intelligence Underwriting Company (AIUC) has officially launched after securing $15 million in seed funding. This marks the second largest seed round in insurance history. The round was led by Nat Friedman of NFDG, with notable participation from Emergence, Terrain, Ben Mann (co-founder of Anthropic), and former chief information security officers from Google Cloud and MongoDB.
AIUC’s mission is to build the confidence infrastructure necessary for enterprises to adopt AI agents securely and effectively. Despite AI’s accelerating advancements and the emergence of many proof-of-concept applications, enterprises remain cautious about deploying AI systems that operate like "black boxes." This hesitation stems from concerns over trustworthiness, accountability, and risk—including hallucinated outputs, potential customer harm, revenue loss, regulatory issues, and damage to reputation.
AIUC focuses on helping enterprises adopt AI confidently and ahead of their competitors by anchoring its approach on three pillars: Standards, Audits, and Insurance.
Standards
AIUC developed AIUC-1, a security and risk framework modeled as “SOC-2 for AI agents.” This framework addresses key technical, legal, and operational safeguards important to enterprise buyers. It builds on established frameworks like the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, the EU AI Act, and MITRE’s ATLAS, while defining clear, auditable requirements. AI companies can earn certification against AIUC-1, providing enterprises with a tangible signal of safety and trust.
Audits
AIUC performs independent audits of AI agents based on the AIUC-1 standard. These audits test AI agents rigorously to identify vulnerabilities and quantify risks. They provide enterprises with a clear, objective, and repeatable assessment of AI systems before deployment, matching enterprise-level expectations for safety and trust.
Insurance
Insurance plays a crucial role in enabling innovation and risk management. AIUC offers liability coverage to AI vendors and their customers in case an AI agent fails. Insurance terms and costs are directly linked to audit outcomes, with safer systems receiving better coverage options. This structure aligns incentives across builders, buyers, and insurers, facilitating AI adoption with greater confidence.
Leadership and Expertise
- Rune Kvist – CEO and co-founder. Former product and go-to-market hire at Anthropic and board member of the Center for AI Safety.
- Brandon Wang – CTO and co-founder. A Thiel Fellow who previously founded a consumer underwriting business.
- Rajiv Dattani – Co-founder and former McKinsey partner with deep experience in global insurance and research on AI model evaluation.
The founders combine strong insurance expertise with technical knowledge from Lloyd’s insurance marketplace, Anthropic, and the Center for AI Safety. AIUC’s strategy includes enabling insurers to innovate in AI without exposing themselves to excessive risks. Initial focus areas include data privacy and security risks.
Rune Kvist summarizes the company’s vision: “Every major technological leap in history—electricity, automobiles, flight, the internet—was enabled by private market insurance. We’re building that confidence infrastructure for AI. It rewards responsibility, accelerates adoption, and helps enterprises make informed decisions.”
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