‘Our vision is to build technology that supports MSPs throughout the entire insurance process, from software consumption to policy acquisition,” says Cole Knuth, FifthWall CEO. ‘We want to maintain the MSPs’ role as technical advisors and provide them with tools that enhance their ability to manage cybersecurity for their clients.’

To prepare for its next stage of growth, cyber insurance vendor FifthWall has raised $5 million in Series A funding and tapped Pax8’s Cole Knuth as CEO and Gene Stevens as chief technology officer.

“We saw an opportunity to leverage MSPs, which are critical to the cybersecurity landscape but were often overlooked or undervalued by traditional insurance carriers,” Knuth (pictured) told CRN in an exclusive interview.

Doug Wright, who has served as CEO of the Wexford, Pa.-based vendor since October 2015, will transition to chairman of the board.

Knuth spent the last six-and-a-half years at Denver-based Pax8 in a number of roles including director of revenue operations, CRO of EMEA and, most recently, corporate vice president of strategy.

[Related: Cybersecurity Expert: Why Are Cyber Premiums ‘Going Gangbusters’?]

In those roles, Knuth spearheaded the company’s growth worldwide, particularly in the EMEA and APAC regions, through two acquisitions and a host of partnerships.

“Our vision is to build technology that supports MSPs throughout the entire insurance process, from software consumption to policy acquisition,” Knuth said. “We want to maintain the MSPs’ role as technical advisors and provide them with tools that enhance their ability to manage cybersecurity for their clients.

“Insurance carriers often undervalue the role of MSPs in risk mitigation,” he added. “We see this as an opportunity to change the narrative and position MSPs as integral players in the cyber insurance ecosystem.”

The Series A funding will support the development of new technology and the scaling of FifthWall’s operations. Funds will go towards building a robust engineering team, enhancing marketing efforts and streamlining internal processes.

“Our initial focus will be on investing in research and development to create MSP-centric technology solutions,” Knuth said. “We are also committed to scaling our revenue-generating teams and enhancing our market presence.”

The company has undergone a significant leadership overhaul in other positions. Gene Stevens comes to FifthWall as CTO with a background in technology, innovation and cyber insurance. As the co-founder and CTO of ProtectWise alongside Pax8 CEO Scott Chasin, Stevens guided the company through its acquisition by Verizon, where he served as head of product innovation.

“When Cole reached out and presented the opportunity, it was clear that the timing was right,”

Stevens said. “The team, the product and the market conditions aligned perfectly. One of the unique aspects of our approach is the use of generative AI to create customized policies. Instead of relying on generic policies and time-consuming forms, our AI will analyze existing data to generate bespoke, right-sized policies. This approach aims to reduce premiums and enhance accuracy in risk assessment.

“Our goal is to take an expensive, fragmented process and introduce simplicity, ease of use, and lower costs,” he added. “We are focusing on automating the process and offering tools directly to the market.”

Additional leadership changes include the appointment of Richard Garman and David Walsh to the company’s board of directors. Garman is the founding partner emeritus at FTV Capital and previously served as president and CEO of Electronic Payment Services.

Walsh is currently on the board of Pax8 and has served in leadership roles across various successful ventures in financial technology and SaaS.

Going forward, FifthWall aims to remove barriers and make its solutions seamlessly accessible to MSPs.

“Our primary goal is to make the cyber insurance conversation an asset rather than a liability for MSPs,” Knuth said. “We want to ensure that MSPs are equipped with the right tools and support to effectively manage their clients’ cybersecurity needs.”