Crystal Venture Partners
6 E. 43rd St., 15th Floor, New York, NY, 10017, United States
Overview
Crystal Venture Partners provides strategic advice and capital to early-stage companies driving long-term strategic change in the insurance industry. Our investments primarily fall into B2B categories: Technology companies developing infrastructure to facilitate the future of the insurance industry Software companies extracting & activating risk data to: reduce cost; improve underwriting, claims, and service outcomes; and/or increase transaction speed Insurance product manufacturers (MGA’s) leveraging proprietary data sets and advanced technologies to achieve sustainable underwriting and cost advantages Companies enabling the future of insurance distribution by enhancing customer experience, increasing producer productivity, and improving accessibility.
- Total investments
- 4
- Lead investments
- 0
- Investments · 12mo
- 3
- Active investors
- 2
Investment portfolio
- Novella
Participated · Equity · May 2026
Novella is an AI-native wholesale insurance broker co-founded in 2024 and headquartered in New York with an R&D facility in Tel Aviv. Its specialty AI agents perform placement, binding, form comparison, policy review, subjectivity collection, inspections, billing, endorsements, renewals, and other broking tasks to enable producers to focus on client relationships. The company has been appointed by close to 100 specialty carriers and managing general agents and receives business from more than 3,500 retail agencies. Novella has opened offices in Miami and Houston in 2026 and plans additional regional offices, including southern California in Q2. Leadership includes CEO and co-founder Max Kane, CTO Michael Tsibelman, and Head of Brokerage Alex Broome. Novella aims to become a top-five U.S. wholesale Excess & Surplus broker with $10 billion of premium within the decade.
- Gyde
Participated · Equity · Jan 2026
Gyde combines proprietary artificial-intelligence technology with a broker-first operating model to modernize how agencies serve clients across insurance, health, and wealth. Its core offerings include GydeOS, a broker-facing operating system, and Gia, an intelligent assistant that automates low-complexity tasks while elevating human expertise. The company is actively acquiring high-performing health insurance agencies in the Medicare Advantage, Employee Benefits, and Individual markets, keeping existing teams in place and aligning incentives for long-term growth. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with offices in New York City, Gyde positions brokers as lifelong advocates by delivering more proactive, personalized, and continuous support to clients. The platform’s AI-driven automation aims to deepen broker-client relationships, improve carrier partnerships, and unlock greater lifetime value per customer. Over the coming months, Gyde plans to unveil its initial cohort of partner agencies. The company has raised $60 million to fund its launch and expansion.
- WithCoverage
Participated · Series B · Jan 2026
WithCoverage is a New York City–based company that merges AI-driven analysis with teams of insurance experts and attorneys to deliver end-to-end risk-management solutions. Its platform reviews a client’s existing insurance program, flags coverage gaps, inefficiencies, and misaligned spend, then designs a tailored plan while running a competitive process across carriers. Clients receive a purpose-built dashboard to manage policies, certificates, claims, and renewals, all for a flat fee. The service is already used by more than 550 venture-backed businesses across technology, CPG, hospitality, and defense sectors, with notable customers such as GoPuff, Blank Street, and Eight Sleep. Following its latest financing, the company plans to broaden its product suite and hire over 75 employees in product engineering, business development, and risk management during 2026. While revenue figures were not disclosed, the sizable and diversified customer base underscores the company’s traction and growth potential.
- Sixfold AI
Participated · Series A · Jun 2024
Sixfold AI offers an "AI Underwriter," a suite of autonomous agents that handle end-to-end underwriting tasks for global P&C insurance carriers. The platform plugs directly into existing workbenches and policy administration systems, allowing fast deployment without disrupting underwriters’ workflows. To date, Sixfold has processed more than one million submissions across over 40 lines of business for insurers that collectively write $265 billion in gross written premium. Customers such as Zurich North America, Guardian, Generali GC&C, and Skyward Specialty report tangible gains, including a 35% reduction in quote response time and up to two hours saved per submission. With new funding, the company plans to deepen its research and engineering resources, integrate broader data sources, and expand commercial operations in North America, Europe, Latin America, and Australia. Ultimately, Sixfold envisions underwriting operations running entirely on its AI while human underwriters focus on strategic portfolio management.