Former UK government minister Afolami raises £4.9 million for AI insurance brokerage startup i23
Former UK Economic Secretary to the Treasury Bim Afolami and PrimaryBid co-founder Anand Sambasivan have co-founded AI insurance brokerage startup i23, which has secured a £4.9 million seed funding round co-led by Four Cities Capital and Outward VC, with participation from Seedcamp and Insiders Ventures. i23 is developing an AI operating model to take on the day-to-day administrative work of insurance brokers, targeting the highly fragmented UK insurance brokerage market worth up to £22 billion annually.
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A former UK government minister has launched an AI insurance startup, his co-founder has confirmed, which has reportedly raised nearly £5m in seed funding.
Bim Afolami, who served as the UK’s economic secretary to the treasury between 2023 and 2024 under former prime minister Rishi Sunak, has launched the startup, called i23 along with Anand Sambasivan, one of the co-founders of PrimaryBid, the UK fintech that provides retail investors with access to public company capital raises.
Sambasivan said: “We are building an AI-native insurance broker. Sprinting fast and it feels so great.”
He added: “It’s great to see such a vibrant early-stage ecosystem for UK startups. A lot different to ten years ago. London is very much thriving."
The startup has raised £4.9m in seed funding, according to Sky News, which first reported the news. Investors include Four Cities Capital, which jointly led the round, along with Outward VC, Seedcamp and Insiders Ventures.
The startup is targeting the insurance broker market.
According to the report, i23 is developing an AI operating model which will carry out insurance brokers’ routine administrative work.
The UK insurance broker market is worth up to £22bn a year, according to market data, but it is highly fragmented.
Former PrimaryBid COO Mike Coombes and Salman Valibeik, the co-founder of Opriva, the marketing startup, are also part of the founding team. PrimaryBid was acquired by US fintech giant SoFi last year.
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