InsurTech Innovator: Brace for the Startup Rollercoaster – Ben Smyth

“Prepare for patience, and prepare for a rollercoaster. The journey can go from 0-1,000mph and back to 0 again at different stages, alongside going from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. .” – Ben Smyth

Today we feature Ben Smyth, the founder of Arma Karma. We hear their story in their own words, their successes, their challenges and their insights.

Let’s start by getting to know you. Can you please tell us a little bit about you and what you do?

I’m Ben Smyth, an ex-city insurance broker turned Arma Karma’s CEO and founder. I started Arma Karma alongside my good friend and co-founder Chris Frogner because I’d held the view for some time that insurance can be transformed in such a way that it could have a positive impact on not just customers, but on being more ethically centred.

A great introduction and start to this interview. Can you please tell us, how did you start, from what age, and what made you decide to change direction and start?

After about eight years in the industry, witnessing the old-fashioned stamps and feather quills in Lloyd’s of London, as well as the common attitude of ‘the industry vs. the people’, it became clear change needed to happen, and it needed to happen now. In my spare time, using the experience I had gained in the insurance industry, I began formulating the initial plans for an ethically minded insurance company to take on this challenge. I wanted to provide a solution to the problems that people like me were facing as renters. I sat with these ideas for a long time, thinking of every issue and working out a way to solve it.

Naturally, I also spent a lot of time questioning whether to leap. After a while, I got tired of waiting and knew there would never be a right time to try to launch a start-up, so I called Chris. We’d always talked about going into business together and I knew his methodical brain would be the perfect antidote to my dream big, ideas-focused attitude, and would help bring my vision to life. 

Thank you for that insight. So can you tell us…What does your business do and where is your company based?

We designed a new monthly subscription to protect the things that matter to you wherever you go, inside, outside and abroad. Contents insurance makes you pay to insure everything in your home (often on a yearlong contract) and leaves you unprotected outside the home. With us, you can choose up to five items to cover (for example, your laptop, bike, and phone) and be covered everywhere.

 Arma Karma also makes a positive impact on the world, with 25% of our revenue from each subscription going to a charity of your choosing, to raise £1m for charities across three years, at a time when they need it most #ProjectMillion. We’re based in the Innovation Centre Knowledge Gateway in Essex which is situated on the University of Essex Campus, where Chris and I both previously studied.   

What’s the story behind your success? What led to your aha moment? how did you get to where you are now?

The idea came during a family Sunday dinner. I’d gone into the insurance industry, while my brother worked for charities. I started to wonder whether it would be possible to combine the two into an ethical insurance proposition, something which would resonate strongly with the younger generation. Even though I worked in insurance, I didn’t have any form of home insurance cover, because it didn’t cater to my needs simply put. Chris and I spent the next six months thinking up a product that people like ourselves, students and renters with an ethical mindset would be drawn to and find useful.

We have our investors to thank for the faith they placed in our business from the get-go. We had people pull out but then welcomed others who were maybe more behind us which works better. As we’re an insurtech pushing a new kind of product, having the right ecosystem of partner providers around was hugely important, and again, we were let down by one in the early days, only to partner with another who was a better fit.

We’ve formed a strong relationship with our first four partner charities, and we’re in talks with our next and final four, who will switch between every quarter to give them as much chance at gaining support through subscriptions as possible. Getting past rigorous checks from our bank due to one of our charities operating in Syria was a little thorny, but worth it as they’re a fantastic cause to support. We felt supported by the vibrant business community at our base in the Innovation Centre in Essex. Collaboration comes easily, and in the early days of starting, we were regular attendees of in-house events, from seminars on how to improve mental performance to digital marketing workshops.

Thank you for sharing that. What’s been your life’s biggest lesson so far?

Before launching, we lost a key IT partner, and that put the brakes on things. We’ve had other setbacks with the product itself and both scenarios have taught me to remain persistent and optimistic. Since those challenges, we’ve been nominated for prestigious awards, have secured a European partner just weeks after our launch, and are getting great feedback from subscribers and potential subscribers. So clearly, while things might seem like a disaster at the moment, there is potential for new opportunities ahead – ones you might not have imagined, or at least expected so soon!

My belief has always been that there is no challenge too big if you surround yourself with the right people, and that’s certainly rung true from what we’ve experienced so far as a company. The friends and partners we have made, have helped us to weather every storm and get past every obstacle that has come our way.

Don’t let rejection take the wind out your sails. Not everybody will be on the same page, and it’s important that only the people that are join the journey.

If you were to go back in time, what piece of advice would you give to your younger self?

Keep doing what you’re doing. Put everything into every bit of work you do, no matter whether it seems relevant to the end goal or not. Things have a funny way of returning to your path, and if they left positively could lift you more than you could ever imagine. Learn, develop and absorb everything on your journey. Forging a broad knowledge of several areas will provide you the perfect foundation in which to launch a business of your own, and make it a success. To those who doubted, or worse, actively discouraged, stay tuned.

We’re nearly halfway through our interview so it’s a great time to ask how does your business run. What three tools make your business run better?

Microsoft Teams – Especially during the peak of the pandemic, kept our channels of communication flowing

Hotjar – Being able to see, and learn from, the behaviour of your prospective customers on your platform is invaluable

Canva – With our organic marketing, paid marketing and presentation creation. Allowed us to maintain and develop our brand

What do you know now that you wished you had known before?

Don’t let rejection take the wind out of your sails. Not everybody will be on the same page, and it’s important that only the people that are joining the journey.

What has been your greatest or proudest achievement or moment?

Being labelled 4th in Insurtech51, and shortlisted as Start-up of the year award, within the space of a couple of months following soft-launch.

What future life goals do you want to achieve and why?

Grow Arma Karma to the levels I know it can reach!

To finish our inspire questions…”We believe that sharing inspiring words can inspire others.” If there was one positive thing you would say to someone to inspire and empower them what would it be and why?

Prepare for patience, and prepare for a rollercoaster. The journey can go from 0-1,000mph and back to 0 again at different stages, alongside going from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows.

“Thank you it has been great learning more about your founder story and Arma Karma”

To learn more about Arma Karma visit: armakarma.insure

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