IN 2012 Mark Dowds co-founded Tr?v, the world’s first on-demand insurance platform, and today is its chief strategy officer, accountable for all revenue, strategy, and growth as the company expands internationally.
Today Tr?v is the world's leading insurance technology platform, enabling the new ways people live, work, and move. It enables banks, technology companies, retailers, and car manufacturers to deliver digital insurance solutions for new and emerging risks.
Because its distribution is through well-known brands, it has no cost to acquire customers. It passes on risk to its insurance partners, so its margins are clear and predictable.
Over the last two decades, Mark has helped get dozens of ventures off the ground in Canada, the USA, and Northern Ireland.
He is the co-founder of Ormeau Baths, a tech hub in Belfast city centre that hosts 200 entrepreneurs focused on tech, gaming and film.
Mark was an LP in Bullet Time Ventures, an early seed investor in Uber, Twilio and is a current LP in Anthemis Venture Fund. He is the chairman of Techstart Ventures, helping entrepreneurs build successful technology businesses from the ground up.
He is also the chairman of Generation Innovation, a programme designed to bring entrepreneurial experiences to high school students throughout Northern Ireland.
What vision/lightbulb moment prompted you to start-up in business?
The seed comment that led to starting Tr?v was when Scott Walchek said: “Imagine if we could create the world’s largest database about things that people own”. I had known Scott most of my adult life, had just sold my last company and was ready for a new challenge. The origin of the company and what it has become are very different however.
Describe your business model and what makes your business unique.
Tr?v enables banks, technology companies, retailers, and car manufacturers to deliver digital insurance solutions for new and emerging risks. Because our distribution is through well-known brands, we have no cost to acquire customers. We pass on risk to our insurance partners, so our margins are clear and predictable.
What is your greatest business achievement to date?
Partnering with Google to power the insurance that sits behind their autonomous vehicle fleet.
What moment/deal would you cite as the "game changer" or turning point for the company?
In the early days of the company, it was definitely our partnership with Suncorp in Australia. This partnership led us into a fully-fledged technology company in the insurance sector.
What were the best and the worst pieces of advice you received when starting out?
Worst piece of advice I ever had (early days and pre-Trov) was from an investor who told me to just focus on delivery and not worry about capital. Best piece of advice I ever had as an entrepreneur was that my role hinges on the art of mitigating risk.
What are the big disruptive forces in your industry?
Data is the biggest disruptor for the insurance industry. There are new and better data sources that if computed live and dynamically will change the very nature of risk. No insurance company today can compute these live feeds or find the right signals which is why we as a technology company believe we can shape the future.
What motivates you to keep performing at your best?
I believe that our world can continuously improve if we give our best to the people around us. I want to be a living example of how vision can shape reality and how generosity can inspire a better future.
