By James Thaler

June 30 - (The Insurer) - CompScience’s Josh Butler has said the AI-powered workers' compensation MGA is eyeing industry vertical and product expansion after completing its $27.5 million Series B earlier this year, and argued the insurtech “fundamentally changes” industry economics.

The funding round announced in February was led by Sands Capital, with participation from Valor Equity Partners and Four More Capital, bringing its total funding to over $50 million and values the company at 4x its valuation from a year ago.

"We're probably the fastest growing out there right now," Butler said.

The company uses computer vision technology and AI to analyze existing workplace camera footage to identify safety hazards and prevent injuries.

"We get hundreds of hours of data, and we can continue to get batches of data throughout the year to see whether (insureds) are making the changes that we're trying to make," Butler explained.

CompScience has grown to around $50 million in gross written premium with backing from Nationwide, Amerisafe and AmTrust.

The five-year-old company spent its first two years developing technology to analyze workplace camera footage, partnering with The Hartford to originally prove a 23% reduction in injury rates.

"You could never just launch an MGA without building something that you couldn’t prove was actually driving down losses first," Butler explained.

The company now claims to reduce injury rates by 55% in manufacturing after clients receive their first report.

"We're coming with the special sauce that we've proven and fundamentally changes the economics of the business," Butler said.

"We have both the predictive insights as well as the outcomes, which means we can actually build a model that can predict outcomes," Butler said.

"There's really no one else who has both sides of that equation out there," he added, saying that the insurtech has a mission to prevent a million injuries in the next 10 years.

Butler, who previously worked in self-driving cars and spent five years in product at Facebook, founded the company after a family member was permanently disabled in a construction site accident.

With 40 employees currently, CompScience plans to triple headcount within the next year.

Butler said CompScience plans to expand beyond workers' compensation into other lines, with general liability as the "obvious one" for expansion, although he declined to provide a specific timeline.

"We're looking to be a comprehensive solution for verticals where we can really crush it, like construction and restaurants and retail," Butler said.

"If you're not using AI to innovate and fundamentally change your business, and you (don't) have a unique data moat like us, then you're not going to get funded," Butler said about the current fundraising environment.