Harper raises $46.8M to automate insurance brokerage

On Wednesday, founder and CEO Dakotah Rice announced that Harper, an AI-native insurance brokerage, has raised $46.8 million in a combined Series A and seed round. An insurance brokerage acts as an intermediary between insurance buyers and insurance companies, while a Series A round represents a stage of venture capital financing. The funding marks a fresh start for Rice, whose previous investment company, Poolit, closed in 2023. Rice has spoken openly about the collapse of Poolit, noting that his ego made it difficult to accept the failure of the venture.

Launched in 2024, Harper uses artificial intelligence to manage the administrative tasks that typically slow down commercial insurance transactions. According to Rice, “AI handles the operational weight. Submission routing, underwriter follow-ups, document collection, pipeline management.” This automation significantly accelerates the transaction timeline:

• Traditional brokers: Typically take five to seven days to process a deal.
• Harper: Often completes the same process in one to two days.

This operational efficiency allows the company to scale its transaction volume. While a typical sales team at a human-led brokerage handles 20 to 30 deals a month, Rice stated that AI enables Harper to handle more than 1,000 customers a month. To date, the company has secured more than 5,000 customers, matching them with more than 160 insurance carriers to assist with workers’ compensation, general liability, and professional liability.

Harper is specifically targeting businesses in middle America, such as daycares, manufacturers, car dealerships, and local restaurants. Rice noted that the broader brokerage industry remains highly fragmented, with most competitors still relying on email and spreadsheets. While other AI-native brokerages like Gyde, and companies using AI tools like FurtherAI and Vantel, operate in the space, Harper plans to use its new capital to build out its engineering team and grow its brand. Investors in the company include Y Combinator—which Harper participated in as part of the W25 batch—Lobster Capital, and Peak XV Partners, with the Series A round led by Emergence Capital. Over time, Rice stated that the company aims to expand beyond insurance to handle risk, compliance, and entire back-office operations for entrepreneurs.

Why it matters

Harper is applying software-like margin models to the highly fragmented insurance brokerage industry. By using artificial intelligence to automate operational tasks, the company aims to streamline back-office risk and compliance management for businesses in middle America.