Through its venture capital arm, Firemark Ventures, Insurance Australia Group (IAG) has made an investment into Israeli start-up, Ravin AI, with a view to use its AI-powered inspection tool to assess crashed vehicles.
Founded in 2018 by Eliron Ekstein and Roman Sandler, Ravin AI provides automated artificial intelligence solutions for vehicle inspections serving diverse fleet, insurance, and remarketing customers around the world.
The technology does not require its customers to purchase or install dedicated hardware but rather uses mobile and CCTV cameras.
Many large car insurance providers can often face internal and customer-facing time-lags, as well as issues relating to the consistency of vehicle assessments and claims estimates.
Ravin says it’s platform is designed to improve the accuracy of vehicle assessments, reducing operational costs and improving customer trust by providing more transparent repair quotes. IAG’s investment also reflects Ravin’s wider market penetration strategy into the APAC region.
“We are delighted to have received investment and look forward to helping streamline and scale IAG’s operations using our deep learning vehicle inspection technology,” Ekstein says.
“This investment reflects IAG’s commitment to providing the best possible service for its customers by incorporating AI-based solutions into its tool-kit for vehicle assessment, maintenance and repair. We look forward to seeing the impact of our collaboration on the retail and commercial Australian motor insurance landscape.”
“IAG’s investment is based on Ravin’s vehicle inspection platform, which leverages mobile phone cameras and CCTV footage, combined with deep learning algorithms, to provide a 360-degree analysis of a vehicle’s exterior condition,” said IAG Firemark Ventures General Partner, Scott Gunther.
“Having scanned the market for comprehensive and efficient vehicle inspection solutions, we found Ravin AI’s technology to be the most promising, with their accuracy, speed and transparency being central to the platform. As we look to further scale our motor insurance operations, we are excited to see the potential impact of Ravin’s vehicle inspection solution and look forward to integrating it into our approach,” he says.
IAG’s main businesses underwrite more than $13 billion, of insurance premium per annum under many brands, including: NRMA Insurance, RACV (under a distribution agreement with RACV), CGU, SGIO, SGIC and WFI (Australia); and NZI, State, AMI and Lumley (New Zealand).
