Lloyd’s, the global insurance and reinsurance marketplace, has announced a strategic investment in BreachBits, a cyberhacking innovation company founded by former US military cyber warfare veterans.
The investment, made through Lloyd’s central fund, follows a successful co-development project undertaken by BreachBits within Lloyd’s Lab Cohort 13, which ran from September to December 2024.
BreachBits is the third ever strategic innovation investment. Only five in total have ever made it among the 150 companies since Lloyd’s Lab was founded in 2018.
BreachBits has developed two unique, automated products specifically tailored for the Lloyd’s market: the Cyber Questionnaire Validator and the Pre-Claim Intervention service. The cutting-edge solutions are designed to inject greater efficiency and accuracy into the often complex process of cyber risk underwriting, ultimately aiming to bolster profitability for both carriers and brokers operating within the Lloyd’s ecosystem.
Market demand for better cyber detection services
The timing of this investment is significant, coinciding with a period of explosive growth within the cyber insurance market. Industry projections indicate a surge in premiums from over US$15 billion to a potential exceeding of US$55 billion in the near future. BreachBits’ innovative technology directly addresses key challenges currently facing this rapidly expanding market, most notably the pressing need for accelerated policy issuance and more robust, proactive risk management and intervention capabilities.
At the core of BreachBits’ product suite lies BreachRisk a.i., a mature and battle-tested backend technology that has conducted over 50,000 simulated hacker assessments since its inception in 2020. This sophisticated technology possesses the capability to detect, verify, and test for over 95% of actual attacker pathways identified in the respected Verizon 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR). This provides underwriters and brokers with an invaluable ‘hacker’s view’ of an applicant’s cyber risk posture, offering a level of insight previously unattainable through traditional methods.
BreachBits has also launched its Early Adopter Programme for Q1 2025. The initiative provides leading brokers and carriers within the Lloyd’s market with the exclusive opportunity to be among the first to implement these groundbreaking solutions.
Rosie Denée, Head of Innovation, Commercial Education and Engagement at Lloyd’s, said: “BreachBits is revolutionising cyber risk assessment by providing insurers with key visibility into their clients’ security posture. Their time in the Lloyd’s Lab helped refine their approach from concept to market-ready solution, demonstrating exceptional results during pilot testing. We’re proud to support their continued growth through this investment – strengthening data-driven cyber solutions that enable our market to underwrite with greater confidence and precision.”
J. Foster Davis, Co-founder of BreachBits, said: “We’re honoured by Lloyd’s investment and proud to work with others dedicated to creating a braver world. Our team is committed to developing solutions that address real-world challenges in cyber insurance and risk management – especially challenges not already being addressed, such as complex threat landscapes, dynamic portfolios, and situations where false-positives cannot be tolerated.”
By backing BreachBits, Lloyd’s aims to equip its syndicates and brokers with cutting-edge tools that will enable them to:
- Streamline broker Workflows: Facilitate a more efficient process for brokers to identify and prepare prospective clients for the market, leading to a superior overall experience.
- Accelerate underwriting: Improve the speed and efficiency of the underwriting process, enabling faster policy issuance to effectively meet the burgeoning demand for cyber insurance coverage.
- Enhance risk selection: Improve the accuracy of risk assessment and selection, potentially leading to more favourable loss ratios for carriers.
- Improve broker service: Enhance customer service provided by brokers through quicker turnaround times on insurance applications.
Provide added value to policyholders: Offer policyholders tangible added value through proactive risk management tools and insights, potentially mitigating their exposure to cyber threats.
