Atlian has raised a pre-seed round led by Fuel Ventures to build AI software that identifies UK construction projects at planning stage and connects them with insurance brokers, a launch that targets how construction cover is sourced and submitted before a contractor has broken ground.

Atlian, a London startup founded by James Buckley-Thorp, who previously founded life insurance startup Bequest, builds software for independent UK construction insurance brokers that tracks projects from planning, assesses risks and prepares submissions.

Fuel Ventures, a London early-stage technology fund founded in 2014 by Mark Pearson that has backed more than 230 companies, led the round, alongside SyndicateRoom’s Access EIS fund, GI Network, a new angel syndicate backed by about 3,000 professional investors making its first investment, and angel investor Chris Mairs.

The funding will support commercial launch, expand Atlian’s construction data and fund its first senior sales hire from the broker market, and the company has launched a free insurance market finder, WhoWritesThis.co.uk.

Fuel Ventures Founder and Managing Partner Mark Pearson said Atlian is building the critical software layer for a market ripe for AI-driven transformation, citing Britain’s £200bn (€234bn) annual construction output.

The pitch is process, not price: Marsh’s Q1 market review found UK construction insurance capacity ample, with pricing trending downward, which shifts competition between brokers toward how early they find and prepare business for underwriters.

GlobalData forecasts UK construction to grow 3.2% a year between 2027 and 2030, led by transport infrastructure, data centres and housing, so the volume of projects needing cover is rising, while Atlian argues that distribution is still largely manual.

Planning-stage visibility is the commercial hook, since tracking projects from planning gives brokers an opportunity to pursue business earlier, a proposition that remains untested at scale with the first brokers due to onboard in November.

For the sector, early-stage data on projects is becoming a new input to insurance distribution, and contractors may find brokers approaching them earlier, with sharper knowledge of their schemes before tendering begins.

Source: Konsulteer / Coverager / IT Brief / Insurance Business