CLARA analytics ("CLARA"), the leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the commercial insurance industry, today announced that it closed $25 million in Series B funding, bringing its total funding to $36.5 million. The round was led by growth equity firm Aspen Capital Group with participation from Series A lead Oak HC/FT and additional investors. CLARA will use the funds to extend its product suite, attract critical industry talent, and expand its global reach.

CLARA analytics uses both structured and unstructured data to unlock relevant seeds of knowledge from medical notes, bills, and other documents and bring them into a cross-industry data lake to generate valuable predictions and other insights for claims teams. CLARA's suite of AI-based software, which includes CLARA claims, CLARA providers, CLARA litigation as well as its popular Medicare Set-Aside solution, is used by some of the world's leading insurers, including Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies, EMC Insurance, Amerisure, and QBE Insurance.

"We are reshaping the entire claims process by analyzing millions of data points and generating meaningful and actionable insights in a matter of seconds," says CLARA analytics CEO Gary Hagmueller. "With this funding, we're excited to expand our team and extend into new product areas and markets and to have Aspen Capital Group as a new investor on that journey."

CLARA is rapidly growing by saving insurers and employers millions of dollars in workers compensation claims. A share of those claims starts out routinely but rapidly increases in cost and severity due to unexpected medical and legal expenses. CLARA's products use AI to accurately identify these hard-to-detect claims much earlier and more effectively than conventional techniques. CLARA's providers solution optimizes medical networks and helps find the right doctors for each claim. CLARA litigation recommends optimal litigation and settlement strategies to meaningfully reduce costs. CLARA's Medicare Set-Aside solution instantly compiles and updates MSA reports. The products are designed to integrate and, when used together, drive compound benefits. One insurer using claims and providers, for example, has seen claimants return to work 35% faster in claims processed using CLARA.

The new financing is ideally timed, as COVID-19-related disruptions have generated rising interest in CLARA's approach. Insurers are looking for new tools and additional data to navigate rapid changes in claims, litigation, and health care delivery, which the National Council on Compensation Insurance estimates could add upwards of $81.5 billion to the cost of workers compensation claims across the 38 states on which it tracks data. By leveraging CLARA's cross-industry data lake and AI capabilities, organizations gain instant access to deeper data and insights, so they can make faster, more calculated decisions that adapt to today's changing conditions. Adjusters, for example, can identify claims where medical notes don't include a COVID diagnostic code but reference terms such as "shortness of breath" and "fever" for claimants based in locations with high infection rates and engage the right specialist on their team to ensure those claims are handled in a prescribed way.

To meet surging interest, CLARA will invest heavily in customer-facing sales and support teams and augment existing expertise in workers compensation. The company is also growing its product team and expanding into additional lines of property and casualty insurance. Rising health care and litigation expenses are driving up claim costs and putting pressure on margins across the P&C industry. CLARA's technology is well-suited to address this growing challenge.

"We see dozens of different ways CLARA's AI can be applied," says Steven Jones, Chairman and Managing Partner at Aspen Capital Group. "We are impressed with the depth of product functionality, deep customer relationships, and the demonstrable return on investment that CLARA's solutions deliver to customers in workers compensation, and we believe CLARA is well positioned to drive similar breakthroughs in other insurance lines of business."

To learn more, please visit www.claraanalytics.com.

About CLARA analytics

CLARA analytics improves claims outcomes in commercial insurance with easy-to-use artificial intelligence (AI)-based products. CLARA's suite helps claims teams reduce claims handling and loss costs by keeping claims on track throughout their life cycle. The suite uses the latest in AI and machine learning (ML) technology and can integrate easily into any workflow or infrastructure to rapidly start showing value. CLARA's customers include companies from the top 25 global insurance carriers to large third-party administrators and self-insured organizations. Founded in 2015, CLARA analytics is headquartered in Silicon Valley in California. For more information, visit www.claraanalytics.com, and follow CLARA analytics on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Aspen Capital Group

Aspen Capital Group is a growth equity firm that partners with founders and entrepreneurs to build industry-leading technology and tech-enabled services businesses. Our approach to creating value focuses on identifying and continuously driving toward the key product and customer initiatives required to achieve leadership and remain a leader in the industry segments we pursue. Aspen brings significant expertise and resources, and is an ideal partner to founders and entrepreneurs looking to build leading companies.

CLARA litigation, CLARA providers and CLARA claims are trademarks of CLARA analytics. All other brand names and solution names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Tags: CLARA analytics, artificial intelligence, AI, data science, machine learning, commercial insurance, Oak HC/FT, Aspen Capital Group, workers compensation, insuretech, claims, litigation