Shephard raises $42M Series B led by Intact to automate commercial construction insurance underwriting

Summary

Shephard, an MGA focused on commercial construction insurance, has raised a $42 million Series B led by Intact Private Capital, the venture arm of Intact Insurance, a $30 billion global insurer.

The lead investor is the most pointed detail here. Intact was already a capacity provider for Shephard at the Series A, meaning it sits on the balance sheet taking on underwriting risk. It has now crossed over into equity, preempting the round after watching Shephard's execution firsthand. That is a meaningful validation signal: the company backing Shephard's risk is also betting on its equity.

What Shephard insures

Shephard operates in commercial construction, one of the more capital-intensive corners of the insurance market. A single large data center campus can represent $20 billion in combined construction materials and installed equipment — all of which needs to be insured during the build phase. Shephard's primary product is casualty coverage, specifically property damage and bodily injury to people and assets around job sites. It also writes property coverage for materials and construction costs during the build.

As an MGA, Shephard owns the full customer-facing stack — marketing, sales, underwriting, and policy servicing — while large insurers like Intact sit behind it providing the balance sheet capital and ratings required to fulfill lender and builder contracts.

Automating underwriting

The company maps its underwriting automation ambition to a self-driving vehicle framework, with its own Level 1 through Level 5 roadmap. Today, commercial underwriters at most firms operate with what the company's founder describes as two hands on the wheel, handling every step manually. Shephard's target is an underwriter who functions more as a portfolio orchestrator, managing 200 accounts per month rather than the 15 to 20 that is typical today. The model strips out data entry and high-friction process work while keeping human judgment in place for the nuanced risk decisions that commercial lines demand.

Intact's willingness to lead the round suggests the incumbent insurance world sees AI-driven underwriting automation as a credible near-term disruption, comparable to what AI has already done in legal and accounting services.