IN A NUTSHELL:

Pablow is a next-generation global insurance platform that connects targeted travel insurance to small travel retailers.

ABOUT THE BUSINESS:

During his 17 years in the travel insurance business, Steve Sherlock has identified some major disconnects between the services offered by large travel insurers and the small to medium-sized travel retailers. 

His company, Pablow, seeks to pool the volume of “smaller fish” in the leisure travel industry so that they can leverage the products of the larger insurers. 

“A big travel insurance company like Allianz wants to diversify their revenues, but for them to do a contract with a travel company, it has to be a certain volume so they can spread their costs out across that volume,” Sherlock said. “That’s a problem for these small to medium travel retailers, because they want to access these products, but they don’t have enough volume to justify a contract. So it’s like a Catch-22. We solve the problem by sitting in the middle.” 

Pablow already has entered into a global deal with Allianz Global Assistance to offer low-cost car rental deductible/exemption coverage in 40 countries. Allianz rolled the product out initially in the Australia and New Zealand markets, and Allianz now offers it in in the United States, Canada and throughout Europe. 

Pablow is now talking with insurance companies about a similar approach to offering vacation rental insurance that can be sold as an add-on product for small to medium-sized resorts as they’re booked online. 

Other verticals the company has identified include cruise cancellation insurance, car-share insurance, business travel coverage and airline on-time performance coverage. 

“Effectively the rollout model is to add more products into the system and then we’ll market to the retailers,” Sherlock said. “It’s that network effect – the more retailers you have connected, the more interesting that is for the big insurance companies, and the more insurance companies you have, the more interesting that is for the retailers.” 

Sherlock moved his company’s headquarters to Berlin, Germany, a year ago to be closer to European-based insurers.  

Finding a niche insurance accelerator in Des Moines was an ideal fit for his company, Sherlock said.  

“Part of the reason for being over in Europe is so that we’re close to the insurance companies we want to work with,” he said. “We want to replicate that now in the U.S. to be close to big insurance companies here. … We would have eventually started operating in the U.S. market, but to do that with the assistance of the program and the network has been very helpful. In just a week, we’ve made some really good contacts that might have taken us six months otherwise.”