Harper Company Profile

Background

Harper is an AI-native commercial insurance brokerage founded in 2024 and headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company's mission is to revolutionize the commercial insurance industry by leveraging artificial intelligence to automate and enhance the brokerage process. Harper aims to deliver superior service with significantly higher margins by addressing the inefficiencies inherent in traditional insurance brokerage systems.

Key Strategic Focus

Harper's strategic focus centers on automating key workflows in the insurance process to efficiently secure optimal coverage for each client's unique requirements at competitive prices and with rapid turnaround. The company targets mid-sized businesses with complex insurance needs, aiming to eventually serve every business in the country. By leveraging AI, Harper seeks to create an infinitely scalable brokerage that delivers superior service with significantly higher margins.

Financials and Funding

As a participant in Y Combinator's Winter 2025 batch, Harper has attracted attention from investors. The company has achieved a six-figure monthly recurring revenue (MRR) and has a large sales pipeline, indicating strong financial performance and growth potential.

Pipeline Development

Since acquiring its first customers in October 2024, Harper has grown to write over $6 million in annualized premiums across 35 states. This rapid growth demonstrates the company's ability to scale its operations and meet the complex insurance needs of businesses nationwide.

Technological Platform and Innovation

Harper has developed a suite of AI solutions to enhance its sales, operational, and service interactions. The flagship tool, Harper Hub, offers the following capabilities:

Automatic Form Completion: Streamlines the application process by auto-filling complex forms.

Optimal Carrier and Underwriter Matching: Identifies the best insurance providers for each client's specific needs.

Seamless Client Communication Management: Facilitates efficient and effective communication with clients.

These AI-driven tools enable Harper to operate more efficiently, generate more revenue, and grow faster than traditional brokerages.

Leadership Team

Harper's leadership team comprises experienced professionals with backgrounds in finance, technology, and entrepreneurship:

Dakotah Rice, Co-Founder and CEO: Previously worked on the Technology, Media, and Telecommunications Team in Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs, and spent time at Carlyle and Coatue. He co-founded Poolit, a fintech company that scaled to $100 million in assets under management.

Tushar Nair, Co-Founder and CTO: Led machine learning and AI engineering teams at Goldman Sachs, automating services for the commodities desk. He co-founded Poolit with Dakotah Rice.

Competitor Profile

Market Insights and Dynamics

The commercial insurance brokerage market represents over $100 billion in annual commissions. This substantial market size presents significant opportunities for innovation and disruption, particularly through the integration of AI technologies.

Competitor Analysis

Key competitors in the commercial insurance brokerage industry include traditional firms that rely on manual processes, leading to operational inefficiencies. Harper differentiates itself by leveraging AI to automate and enhance the brokerage process, offering faster and more efficient services to clients.

Strategic Collaborations and Partnerships

While specific collaborations and partnerships have not been publicly disclosed, Harper's participation in Y Combinator's Winter 2025 batch provides access to a network of investors, mentors, and potential partners, strengthening its market position and innovation capacity.

Operational Insights

Harper's AI-driven approach allows it to operate more efficiently than traditional brokerages, offering faster service and potentially higher margins. This technological advantage positions the company to capture a significant share of the commercial insurance brokerage market.

Strategic Opportunities and Future Directions

Harper aims to become the largest insurance brokerage in the world with the best Net Promoter Score (NPS). By continuing to develop and refine its AI technologies, the company seeks to expand its client base, enter new markets, and further disrupt the traditional insurance brokerage industry.