Soton Rosanwo, Founder and CEO of Centinel, loves insurance.  

“A lot of people’s first impression of insurance is that it’s boring. But the fact is, you can’t tell me a part of life that it doesn’t touch — it underlies all our collective and individual experiences,” Rosanwo says.  

“And in today’s climate, our relationship with risk is fundamentally changing. I love the challenge of making hard-to-insure catastrophic risks more insurable, so people have the protection they need at a time they really need it.” 

In a recent interview with the ITC team, Soton shares her startup story, reflects on ITC’s impact on her professional and business growth, and looks ahead to this year’s conference. 

Q: How does Centinel help insureds?   

A: The idea for Centinel formed in 2019 when a huge winter storm took out power across communities. I thought to myself at the time, it’s crazy and wild that businesses and residences impacted by this storm won’t be protected by their policies because power outage events are typically excluded on both personal and commercial lines.  

Fast forward to 2020, we’re all impacted by a global pandemic — another example of a hard-to-insure risk.  

I started to really explore the space to see if there was a demand for this type of coverage. And it turns out, there was — and there was a clear path to profitability. 

We started with property insurance and built a platform that provides parametric coverage for power outages. We’re currently securing distribution partners and extending coverage across four hard-to-insure risk categories: interrupted utilities, natural disasters, infectious disease, and event cancellation. 

Q: What’s it like to be on the ITC Demo Stage and pitch your business idea?  

A: I attended ITC Vegas for the first time 2022 through the Northwestern Mutual Black Founder Accelerator powered by gener8tor and was able to share what we were building on the demo stage. I appreciated that experience to share Centinel on the largest stage I’d been able to share it on at that time. 

The next year in 2023, I was on a shoestring startup budget, but I was able to go again. I participated in the State Farm Startup Pitch Competition, and the Q&A afterwards was a great chance to further engage with the folks who were in the room. I had a kiosk on the expo floor where people could find and connect with me afterwards. It was a great opportunity to get Centinel out there and seed ongoing conversations.  

This year will be my third time at ITC, and Centinel is participating in an accelerator with BrokerTech Ventures. 

Q: ITC Vegas is recommended by 76% of attendees to see and be seen by investors and carriers. How has ITC helped grow your business? 

A: I believe that community is so important both personally and professionally, and ITC is extremely helpful for getting embedded in the broader insurance community. Attending ITC has connected me to new mentors, advisors, capacity providers, and capital providers — the conference is my yearly place to reconnect with people in person and develop new relationships. 

With all of the different types of insurance businesses at ITC, I always look forward to finding and growing our distribution partnerships and staying abreast of emerging trends and innovations in our space.  

It’s also so beneficial to see other businesses that are walking a similar road to you. ITC gives us a chance to trade stories and get that affirmation that we aren’t alone in a lot of what we’re going through with our businesses. I get to learn from my peers about how they’ve handled similar experiences and I get to share how I’ve navigated through different obstacles as well.

Q: What is your best advice for first-time conference attendees? 

A: It’s critical to put in the leg work before you get to the conference. Make sure you’ve done your research and develop your strategy and goals ahead of time. Know who you want to talk to and be proactive about using the ITC app to schedule 1:1 meetings. Do it early! If you start scheduling early, you increase the probability of getting matched and assigned to a meeting area before they all fill up.  

 

Join the universe of possibilities at ITC Vegas 2024 

Countless startup and insurtech successes start at ITC Vegas (Oct 15-17) at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, and there are lots of ways to get out there and plugged in. Register here to be a part of the world’s largest gathering of insurance innovation where you can: 

• Have a kiosk in Innovation Alley to showcase your startup on the expo floor  
• Launch a new product on our Demo Stage  
• Attend networking events like VC Office Hours to meet with VCs in a non-pitch, introductory environment 
• Get noticed, gain funding, and attract an audience at the State Farm Startup Pitch Competition 

Advice from 3 Experts: How to pitch your startup at ITC Vegas

Brought to you by: 

• Garrett Koehn, Chief Innovation Officer at CRC Insurance Services; General Partner at IA Seed Ventures 
• Tiffine Wang, Partner at MS & AD Ventures

Before ITC... DO:	At ITC... DO:	DON’T…:
✅ Map out your goals	✅ Find opportunities to connect in intimate settings (think: VC Office Hours, mixers, and breakout sessions)	❌ Brag about companies you’re already working with
✅ Search the list of 2024 attendees on the ITC app, know who you want to meet and why	✅ Ask an investor you know to pull you into their circle and help you make direct connections	❌ Pitch us on your product
✅ Tap into your network and ask for introductions to the right people	✅ Be bold: Introduce yourself to speakers after their panel discussions	❌ Be generic about your idea, model, or business        💭 “We’re building a great platform, let’s connect on mutually beneficial business.”
✅ Use the ITC app to schedule all your meetings and sessions	✅ Have your elevator pitch ready for each serendipitous meeting on the expo floor
	✅ Remember that investors are curious and are at ITC to learn about what’s new
	✅ Tell them about your startup and ask for their feedback        💭 “The platform we’re working on does x, would you take a look and give us some input?”
	✅ Divide and conquer: Split meetings with your team to cast a wider net
	✅ Attend the Women’s Leadership Forum and/or the Black Founders Meet-Up  (if applicable!)
	✅ Be prepared for some to tell you no