A former UK government minister has launched an AI insurance startup, his co-founder has confirmed. i23, co-founded by Bim Afolami and Anand Sambasivan, has reportedly raised £4.9 million in seed funding.
The Round
Sky News first reported the funding. Investors include Four Cities Capital, which jointly led the round, along with Outward VC, Seedcamp and Insiders Ventures. The figure comes from the Sky News report and has not been confirmed by the company.
The Founders
- Bim Afolami served as the UK’s economic secretary to the Treasury from 2023 to 2024 under then prime minister Rishi Sunak.
- Anand Sambasivan is a co-founder of PrimaryBid, the UK fintech that gives retail investors access to public company capital raises.
- Mike Coombes, former PrimaryBid COO, and Salman Valibeik, co-founder of marketing startup Opriva, are also part of the founding team.
PrimaryBid was acquired by US fintech company SoFi last year.
What i23 Is Building
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.”
According to the report, i23 is developing an AI operating model that will handle insurance brokers’ routine administrative work. The startup is targeting a UK broker market worth up to £22 billion a year, according to market data, which is highly fragmented.
