Upfort is a company that unifies award-winning security and robust cyber insurance to deliver comprehensive cyber risk solutions. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Upfort CEO and co-founder Xing Xin to learn more about the company.
Xing Xin’s Background
Xin spent the past decade building high-growth startups, with a focus on using data and technology to transform customer experiences and operations. And Xin said:
“Most recently–before founding Upfort–I was the Head of Business & Product Development at Tractable, an artificial intelligence startup for accident and disaster recovery that helped insurers reduce claims processing expenses. As the company’s first US hire, I was responsible for building and leading the U.S. and Japanese markets.”
“I started my career studying systems engineering and decision data science at Carnegie Mellon University, where I earned my Bachelor’s Degree, and later earned my Masters’s Degree in Information Management Systems from Harvard University. My first job role was in management consulting at the intersection of organizational restructuring and predictive modeling.”
Formation Of Upfort
How did the idea for Upfort come together? Xin shared:
“Co-founded by me, Han Wang, and Josh Riley, the idea for Upfort came together when Han returned from deployment with the US Army Cyber Command. During his time in the service, he developed a great appreciation for just how complex and manpower intensive it was to run an effective security program. At that time, we saw that ransomware-as-a-service was rapidly growing, along with the losses suffered by small and big enterprises alike. After speaking with many small and medium-sized enterprises, we recognized that they wanted a holistic solution for their cyber risk – something that would minimize the likelihood of an incident and also cover them, in case there was an issue.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Xin reflected:
“My favorite memory is when we had the opportunity to see our platform help our partners and clients stay secure, even amidst a widespread attack in real-time. There was an extensive, zero-day vulnerability affecting Apache’s Log4J. Once the proof of exploit was published, we created custom detection technology, scanned tens of thousands of companies on our platform, and reached out quickly with solutions for vulnerable companies. Within 24 hours, those companies had addressed those vulnerabilities, confirmed through a follow-up scan. Some may have a perception that small companies don’t care about cybersecurity. Our experience is that folks care–they just need it to be put in front of them the right way with helpful, actionable messaging.”
Core Products
What are Upfort’s core products and features? Xin explained:
“Upfort bridges the cyber protection divide by simplifying the management and insurance of cyber risks for organizations of all sizes. With that in mind, our platform has two core components: a cybersecurity suite focused on prevention and an underwriting solution, making cyber insurance easier to underwrite and sell. Our comprehensive platform seamlessly integrates an industry-leading security suite with robust cyber insurance coverage from top carriers, offering a user-friendly and end-to-end solution. Already, our platform has proven highly effective in preventing ransomware, funds transfer fraud, and data breaches. In essence, Upfort is fast-tracking the global journey toward cyber resilience.”
Evolution Of Upfort’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Xin noted:
“Our original technology was focused on the prevention side of cybersecurity. This was due to the gap we identified in the market for security tools that were effective and practical for small and medium-sized enterprises. As we began to work with more insurers and brokers, we recognized that the risk assessment tools we developed could also benefit the underwriting process in a major way. That is when we decided to expand our platform to help additional stakeholders in the cyber insurance value chain.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Xin cited:
“As a cybersecurity and insurance platform, Upfort looks at the scale and impact of expanding access to holistic cyber protection when assessing our progress. We had a few significant milestones over the last few years, the first being the number of companies we are helping with our holistic cyber solution. Today, Upfort serves more than 25,000 companies and has processed over $100M in cyber insurance premiums annually. Another milestone we achieved was from a case study we conducted that assessed 18 months of real claims data from companies implementing Upfort’s security solutions. This study found that implementing our solution led to an 81% lower likelihood of having a security incident and/or filing a claim. In the 18 months, there were zero ransomware claims and zero wire transfer fraud claims for the participating companies.”
Customer Success Stories
After asking Xin about customer success stories, he highlighted:
“While we consider all of the work we do to help enterprises to become more cyber resilient a success, a specific example would be when we partnered with a cyber insurance program when they were seeing a rapid rise in ransomware claims that was affecting bottom lines. After working with Upfort and getting their policyholders on our platform, their losses significantly decreased and they experienced a large improvement to profitability. We’ve delved into new sectors and remained focused on growing our customer base, including our recent partnerships with Arch Insurance and the Washington Hospitality Association.”
Funding
After asking Xin about the company’s funding information, he revealed:
“Upfort’s latest funding round was an $8 million Series A led by SYN Ventures – a vote of confidence from our investors in a challenging fundraising climate and a testament to the market demand for holistic cyber protection. Eniac Ventures and Fika Ventures, which co-led our seed round, participated in the Series A. Working with our original investors again was such a rewarding and affirming experience. We’re using this investment to advance our goal to simplify the way brokers and insurers sell insurance and shield their clients from cyber threats.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Xin assessed:
“Upfort is pursuing an $80B total addressable market within the cyber security and insurance sector for small and mid-sized enterprises. From a macroeconomic lens, however – cyber crime is a trillion dollar drain on the economy, with ransomware attacks alone affecting 66% of organizations in 2022. So the potential for Upfort to close the gap in cyber protection at large is incalculable.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Xin affirmed:
“Upfort’s key differentiators lie within the breadth of our platform and the proprietary data that improves efficiency and effectiveness overall.More specifically, our AI-powered prevention and intelligent automation not only provides market-leading protection to companies at competitive rates, but also yields more profitable insurance programs for carriers with fewer claims and lower processing expenses. This empowers brokers to enhance client protection while increasing their earnings.”
“We also offer Upfort Shield, which provides more economical coverage while also enhancing cyber protection with a total cost of ownership over 90% lower than typical point solutions. Assembling a comparable suite of tools from traditional vendors would cost approximately $172 per employee annually, Upfort’s cyber security and insurance package represents over $4,000 per year in savings, along with better insurance terms. Together, Upfort is closing the cyber protection gap by eliminating the hassle, headaches, and high costs associated with managing cyber risk through software, automation, and data.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Xin concluded:
“In the future, we’re hoping to continue to scale up the number of companies protected and premiums processed. We’d also like to increase the number of companies protected across a variety of markets. Most recently, we added the hospitality sector to our roster of industries served. We officially partnered with the Washington Hospitality Association to help 6,000+ members of the hotel, restaurant and hospitality industry in Washington proactively manage cyber risk with our holistic solution. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.”
