From Startup to ConnectWise Integrated Solution: SeedPod Cyber's Journey through ConnectWise Invent, PitchIT™

SeedPod Cyber

SeedPod Cyber, located in Princeton, New Jersey, offers comprehensive cyber insurance solutions tailored for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). By integrating underwriting criteria directly into MSP tech stacks, they provide pre-approved coverage and significant premium savings. Supported by the ConnectWise Invent program and community, SeedPod Cyber's innovative solution enhances both risk assessment and operational efficiency.

Challenge

As a startup, SeedPod Cyber faced the challenge of addressing the significant gap in understanding and underwriting cyber risks among SMBs and MSPs, alike. These businesses often lacked knowledge about their cyber vulnerabilities and perceived themselves as unlikely targets for cyber-attacks, complicating the underwriting process. SeedPod Cyber aimed to bridge this knowledge gap and provide effective cyber insurance solutions.

Solution

To address this gap and to reach its ideal customer, SeedPod Cyber deepened its engagement with ConnectWise by becoming a certified integration through the Invent program, competed in the PitchIT program, earning finalist recognition, and actively engaging in the IT Nation community.

Results

SeedPod Cyber successfully developed a comprehensive cyber insurance solution for MSPs that seamlessly integrates with ConnectWise Asio. This integration has fostered exponential growth in MSP partnerships. The partnership with ConnectWise, bolstered by the Invent program and Asio integration, has enabled SeedPod Cyber to achieve an impressive 85-95% conversion rate with MSP partners, positioning them at the forefront of the cyber insurance market.

“I’d recommend it without hesitation to startups looking to break into the industry. Our success is a testament to the power of community-driven innovation and the support from ConnectWise Invent and PitchIT.”

We are living, working----and adapting in real-time to a new normal. Terms like ‘cyber criminals’, ‘ransomware’, and ‘expanding attack surface’ are in our daily vernacular. There’s no denying that cyberattacks are growing in sophistication and frequency that creates financial and reputational risks to businesses everywhere.

As cyber threats continue to evolve, businesses must take proactive measures to strengthen their defenses and ensure robust protection. The digital heat is turning up and cyber insurance has surfaced as a solution, providing crucial coverage and peace of mind in an increasingly vulnerable digital world.

Enter SeedPod Cyber.

A Demand for a New Defenses: SeedPod Cyber Origins

Doug Kreitzberg, owner and founder of SeedPod Cyber, began his career in the insurance industry, spending over two decades building insurance programs and managing affinity business for a large national broker.

Recognizing the growing threat landscape and the critical need for specialized cyber insurance, Doug saw an opportunity to leverage his extensive industry experience.

“My expertise in developing cyber insurance programs and understanding underwriting challenges led me to found SeedPod Cyber,” aiming to bridge the knowledge gap and provide comprehensive solutions.

Kreitzberg succinctly explained, “we integrate underwriting criteria into MSP tech stacks and deliver comprehensive cyber insurance solutions, enabling MSPs and SMBs to confidently navigate the complexities of cyber risk.”

A Path to Growth: ConnectWise Invent

Kreitzberg’s journey with ConnectWise began when he attended his first IT Nation Connect^TM as a guest “working the booth with an MSP friend of mine. I could tell by the energy and the attendees that IT Nation was a place I needed to be. It was energizing and I saw the power of the community---there’s nothing like it in the industry.”

Leaning into a few MSP connections partnered with ConnectWise, Kreitzberg sought advice on finding success in the industry. “I connected directly with the ConnectWise Invent Program. The Invent team is dedicated to helping solution providers like me gain access to the right resources, expertise, and development support needed to seamlessly integrate with ConnectWise solutions/ providing MSP’s with robust, secure integrations.”

This MSP connection proved invaluable and led them to ConnectWise Invent.

Invent Certified Integrator Program

For 18 months, Kreitzberg and his team began working with the Invent team to scope out what the integration would entail. They learned about the ConnectWise Asio^TM platform and prioritized it, aiming to build a seamless integration aligned with the future needs of MSPs.

“We’ve viewed Asio as a gateway to the future, recognizing its potential as a first-of-its-kind integrated platform.” With the guidance and resources from the ConnectWise Invent team, SeedPod was able to “pre-approve clients for coverage, offering significant premium savings.”

Collaborations with MSPs and leveraging the Asio platform, recommended by the ConnectWise community, streamlined the insurance process and enhanced risk assessment. All these signaled an opportunity for SeedPod Cyber to accelerate its growth.

Next-Level Unlocked: The PitchIT Platform

Aubrie Henderson, Senior Program Manager for the ConnectWise Invent program, encouraged Kreitzberg to join the PitchIT competition, which he did at the last minute.

The program provides a 16-week business transformation course, guided by experts, that has been likened to an executive MBA. For SeedPod Cyber, Kreitzberg said it “provided us with the tools and support needed to refine his pitch, enhance our value proposition, and understand the MSP ‘tribe.’ PitchIT was groundbreaking for us."

With levity, Kreitzberg adds, “I’d recommend it without hesitation to startups looking to break-into the industry. Our success is a testament to the power of community-driven innovation and the support from ConnectWise Invent and PitchIT.”