• Julio Pernía Aznar, CEO at Bdeo


• 23.02.2022 03:31 pm

1. Please tell us a little about Bdeo’s history and explain what is the current business.

Having both spent more than a decade working in the insurance sector, my co-founder Manuel Moreno and I spotted an opportunity to help insurance providers manage claims workloads. We realized that approximately 70% of claims are only minor claims that can be easily assessed with technology and without a physical person present.

So, in 2017 we launched Bdeo, an AI-powered insurtech company that enables the remote, real-time evaluation of motor and property damage through geolocalized video and photo assessment technology. Our solutions enable the collection of evidence, validating the information provided and optimizing the entire claims management process, saving them time and, as a result, providing better and faster services to policyholders.  

The process is simple. When an insurer receives a claim, Bdeo helps start the video or photo examination process via a mobile device. A geolocalized video call asks the claimant to provide details of the damages and visual proof. Through AI technology, the platform verifies and validates the information provided by the claimant and then automatically shows the relevant information to the insurer in an administration panel. 

In the case of motor claims, Bdeo is able to analyze damage at the pixel level, giving much more accurate results on the damaged surface as well as its severity. It then provides an estimate of costs, depending on whether a repair or replacement of parts is required. In the case of home insurance, it can identify the cause of the damage, assess the level of severity, as well as define which professional should go to repair the damage.  

2. Have you had any interesting announcements or developments recently?

Our latest product helps property insurance providers assess claims remotely and cut claims processing times by half using “Visual Intelligence” technology.

With Visual Intelligence, property insurance providers can now identify the cause of a customer's claim at an earlier stage, improving internal resource management and reducing the number of people needed to process a claim by half. Bdeo helps insurers save time because they no longer need to send claims assessors or maintenance specialists to the customer’s home to review and fix the damage, which results in time savings for the customer as well. 

In addition to fixing inefficiencies in the most common home insurance claims processes, we intend for Bdeo to be the go-to solution at times of high demand, such as during droughts or storms. During these times, mobility is often reduced, yet homeowners demand more from insurers. With Bdeo, insurers can process claims quickly and remotely, resulting in greater policyholder satisfaction at these critical moments. 

3. What have been the key drivers of the development and growth of Bdeo over the last two years?

Over the past few years, we have rapidly expanded our operations across Europe and Latin America. We are now working with some of the biggest names in the insurance industry, such as Zurich Insurance, Mutua Madrileña and Mapfre in Spain, Chubb and BBVA in Mexico, HBI in Colombia, and Hollard in South Africa. 

Currentle, we have offices in Spain, France, Germany, Mexico, and the UK, and have increased monthly recurring revenues (MRR) fivefold since the beginning of 2019. We owe a lot of this success to the motor claims segment; and now, we are working to strengthen our position in the property claims segment and in new countries around the world.

For instance, some of the top global insurers are based in the UK. We know that the industry is much more mature than in other geographies, so it's incredibly attractive for our solutions. Right now we are consolidating our presence in the markets where we currently operate, expanding in new markets, and above all, we’re building a highly-talented team, all of which are key drivers for our success. 

4. Can you please give us some specific examples of how your solutions have really had a positive impact on your clients?

We offer companies the possibility to fully digitize and automate their underwriting and claim processes, which results in significant cost reduction. For example, we created a fully-automated, instant, and seamless underwriting process for Mutua Madrileña, helping the company take the claims underwriting process from 5 days to 6 minutes, and reduce operational costs by 80%.

As a result, Bdeo also helps insurance companies radically improve the customer experience and increase customer satisfaction – reducing claim-processing times and minimizing friction in the overall claims process for their customers. With Bdeo, companies can provide a more satisfactory experience to the end customer.

Visual Intelligence solutions are also a more sustainable approach, reducing CO2 emissions and the impact on the environment by avoiding the need for loss adjusters to physically travel to accident sites.

5. What are the main trends that will determine how your company develops over the coming two years or so?

Without a doubt, Visual Intelligence will be one of the leading trends in the insurance industry in the coming years, because it is a technology that is already within reach. More specifically, we believe there is a big opportunity in the property industry, and we have already started to explore it. The industry is demanding digital claims management tools to reduce average claim-processing times and costs, and we are one of the first to offer them. 

We are convinced that we can take real advantage of our expertise in the motor sector to deliver a solution for claims and property damages. There are still so many manual tasks that those working in this market must tackle every day, which presents a tremendous opportunity for automation. At Bdeo, we have built Visual Intelligence solutions that allow remote inspection in real-time for quicker decision-making, and we are seeing how new remote inspection technologies are gaining strength. There’s no doubt that insurers are paying more and more attention to customer service, listening to customers' needs and relying on technologies such as Visual Intelligence.

6. What does the competitive landscape look like from your point of view?

Our competition is still very limited, especially when it comes to home insurance, with only a few similar players operating mainly in the UK, US, and Asia. We see big opportunities to partner with insurers who are looking to adopt remote-first, digital technologies. They are looking to embrace the new ways customers are demanding to handle claims (remote and via mobile devices) and are, therefore, looking for companies like Bdeo to partner with and help them upgrade their processes.

We are focused on becoming the leader in Visual Intelligence solutions for the insurance industry, and continuing to grow our presence in new markets, primarily across Europe and Latin America.

7. How would you summarise all this in one or two sentences?

Bdeo’s mission is to evolve the way consumers engage with insurers via world-class Visual

Intelligence solution that digitizes, automates, and accelerates the underwriting and claims

settlement process. With an end-to-end value proposition for the entire customer journey, Bdeo empowers its clients to minimize friction, increase customer satisfaction and significantly reduce operational costs.