NewTech Friday: Captain – Simplifying the post-disaster rebuilding process

What led to the creation of Captain?

Natural disasters are three times more common than 50 years ago and caused $145 billion of US damages in 2021 alone. 
 
As the co-founder of WeatherCheck, a meteorology-focused tech company that monitors housing properties for damage caused by significant weather events, I noticed the challenges customers face filing insurance claims. Many homeowners don't even realize that their policies include hail damage, which causes upwards of $1 billion in damages yearly. 
 
The need for the claims process to be simplified and brought into today's digital realm bore the idea for Captain, my latest company. I founded Captain to streamline and expedite the rebuilding process by working alongside contractors, insurers and policyholders.

Could you present Captain's offer?

Captain is a fintech platform that helps homeowners rebuild six times faster by paying contractors up front to cover fees and expenses. We also help contractors source materials and labor for repairs through our network. Most recently, we announced a Build Now, Pay Later solution that offers homeowners a reprieve – up to 36 months with 0% interest – to pay back their deductible, so their current available assets can instead be used for more pressing expenses to care for their families.
 
We always vet and approve our contractors before recommending their services, to ensure satisfactory repairs. We guarantee high-quality home repairs and no surprise costs. In the rare case that a homeowner is displeased by the work, we will source another contractor to fix repairs at no extra charge to the policyholder. 
 
Ultimately, Captain simplifies the rebuilding process for all parties involved to return a sense of normalcy to families while incentivizing insurers and contractors to work with us.

What's coming next for Captain?
 
Since officially launching in March 2022, Captain has prioritized its presence in Denver, Dallas, and Chicago – the three cities most affected by hail storms.
 
Currently, we’re working with 50 contractors across the US, and we're rapidly scaling our operations to further prioritize markets that need our solution the most. As severe weather events tend to be seasonal, next we'll prioritize states affected by wildfire season, followed by tornadoes, and so forth, until Captain is available across the entire US.