Neptune Insurance (NP) made its debut Wednesday, and CEO Trevor Burgess joined The Watch List to discuss using AI in insurance and how flood insurance has changed.

Founded in 2018, Neptune claims to be the largest private flood insurance company in the U.S. It offers insurance in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. With its in-house technology, it touts its ability to “quote and bind a policy in under two minutes.” They aim to create a “smarter, more resilient insurance platform powered by AI, data science, and technology.”

Neptune is also looking to expand into earthquake insurance, buying earthquake data providers and building up its models in anticipation.

Flood and other disaster insurances have become a trickier market due to climate change. Many insurers have simply pulled out of threatened areas, including many in California, citing wildfire risks. Flood insurance is also an interesting market: before 2012, lending institutions were only allowed to accept NFIP-underwritten policies. The NFIP, or National Flood Insurance Program, is run by FEMA. Though Congress opened the doors for other players, there remain relatively few.

The NOAA says that global average sea level has risen 8-9 inches since 1880, and is accelerating. High-tide flooding is now “300% to more than 900% more frequent than it was 50 years ago.” Almost 30% of the U.S. population lives in coastal areas. We’ve seen some terrible floods this year across the country, even inland, like central Texas.

Also note: high-tide flooding, also called “nuisance flooding” is different than flooding damage caused by hurricanes or other severe disasters. In this scenario, the water rises but isn’t generally deadly – but it can be “disruptive and expensive.”

Turning to Neptune’s prospectus, the company says that as of 2Q25 it has over 245K policies in force, and that in the last twelve months (as of June) they made $137 million in revenue, a 37% growth rate. They calculate that this comes to $2.5 million in revenue per employee and claim a 99% premium retention rate.

Their Triton underwriting AI is the star of the show: Neptune claims that Triton has allowed them to “consistently outperform the NFIP in written loss ratio.” Their system is so good, CEO Burgess said in an interview, that “I joke that you should move if Neptune says no, but it’s not really that much of a joke.”

Neptune believes the flood insurance market is underpenetrated even as incidents rise. They believe that more of the U.S.’s 100 million+ residential and commercial buildings are at risk of flooding than FEMA estimates. FEMA requires buildings in its designated high-risk areas to have flood insurance, but those outside the zones do not have to buy it. Therein lies the opportunity.

A second opportunity comes from this government shutdown: NFIP is not working right now, giving Neptune a chance to swoop in.

Neptune also says that it does not take “any balance sheet insurance risk or have claims handling responsibility relating to the policies that we sell.” Instead, they contract with “7 distinct insurance programs” that collectively provide underwriting, so it acts more as a broker.

The company raised $368 million in its IPO this week and has climbed since its debut, hitting a high of $31.33 today. It is one of the clearer use cases of AI integration outperforming traditional methods in this industry, and Neptune seems confident in continued expansion.

Watch the full interview below:

Tune in live from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, or anytime, anywhere, on‑demand.

Or stream it via thinkorswim® and thinkorswim Mobile, available through our broker-dealer affiliate, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc

Please do not reply to this email. Replies are not delivered to Schwab Network. For inquiries or comments, please email [email protected].

See how your information is protected with our privacy statement. 

Charles Schwab and all third parties mentioned are separate and unaffiliated, and are not responsible for one another's policies, services or opinions. Schwab Network is brought to you by Charles Schwab Media Productions Company (“CSMPC”). CSMPC is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Charles Schwab Corporation and is not a financial advisor, registered investment advisor, broker-dealer, or futures commission merchant.