By Melody Hahm and Samantha Preston

The insurance industry has long struggled with inefficiencies – outdated processes, complex financial operations, and frustrating customer experiences. Founders like Qiyun Cai of Fintary and Christie Horvath of Wagmo are reshaping the space, bringing cutting-edge technology and customer-first solutions to an industry that desperately needs innovation.

Fintary is streamlining financial operations for life and health insurance brokerages, tackling the pain points that have slowed the sector for decades. Meanwhile, Wagmo is redefining pet insurance by creating a seamless, wellness-first experience that pet owners actually want to use.

We chatted with Qiyun and Christie to discuss their journeys, the impact of their products, and how they’re reshaping the insurance landscape.

Fintary: Automating Financial Operations in Insurance

HCP: Your background includes AI product development and technology investing. How have these experiences shaped Fintary’s approach to automating financial operations in the insurance industry? How do you feel like you were the best suited to build Fintary?

Qiyun: I spent a decade in venture capital and startups before becoming an entrepreneur. My first company operated in the insurance space, where I experienced firsthand the constant headaches tied to finance and operations. Fintary was born out of this personal frustration, combined with my industry experience and technical background. These experiences gave me a deep understanding of the complexities within financial operations, as well as the tools to simplify and automate them through technology.

HCP: Financial operations in insurance are notoriously complex. How does Fintary tailor its solutions to meet the unique needs of life and health insurance brokerages, and what feedback mechanisms are in place to refine these solutions?

Qiyun: Fintary approaches these challenges by combining first principles thinking with the latest technologies to tackle problems that have remained difficult to solve for decades. We build workflows designed to handle the intricate processes and massive data flows that are impossible to manage well manually.

Insurance, as an industry, has historically been slow to adopt technology, which makes creating tailored solutions all the more critical. To ensure our platform is continuously refined, we maintain a tight feedback loop with our customers, developing solutions for their most pressing pain points.

HCP: Your platform has evolved to address specific pain points in the insurance industry’s financial operations. How do you identify which customer issues to prioritize, especially in a complex and data-heavy space?

Qiyun: We focus on solving the biggest pain points that are business-critical for our customers. In B2B software, rapid adoption only happens when you address deep, top-of-mind problems. A “nice-to-have” solution doesn’t cut it in today’s highly competitive software market. By working closely with our customers and listening to their challenges, we prioritize building solutions that drive measurable impact on their operations and bottom line.

HCP: Considering Fintary’s position in the insurtech space, how did you evaluate potential exit outcomes? What is your vision for a successful outcome for Fintary?

Qiyun: We are building a platform for broad use cases. Our vision is to build a category-defining financial operations platform that transforms how teams across finance, accounting, operations, and management work. 

Wagmo: Transforming Pet Insurance and Benefits

HCP: Your personal journey with pet ownership and insurance challenges led to Wagmo’s inception. How have your experiences influenced Wagmo’s product features and customer engagement strategies?

Christie: Wagmo was inspired by my dog, Denver. While I was in grad school, Denver started having seizures, and was ultimately diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. The process of diagnosis, and his care afterward, was emotionally draining–and would have been financially draining if I hadn’t purchased pet insurance. In the immediate aftermath, I asked my brother if he had pet insurance. His response? “Why would I do that? Pet insurance is a rip-off.” 

This was my lightbulb moment. This was an invaluable product that had personally helped me, but even savvy, responsible pet owners like my brother didn’t trust or understand it. With only 3-4% penetration in the US compared to up to 60% in countries like Switzerland, I knew there was a massive opportunity to reimagine how pet care coverage could work.

Consumer research made the core problem abundantly clear. Human health insurance, for all its own challenges, is something plan holders use at least annually. Pet insurance, on the other hand, only comes into play when there’s a serious illness or emergency. It’s hard to see the value of a product you hope to never have to use.

So we flipped the traditional pet insurance model on its head. Instead of starting with accident and illness coverage, we built a wellness-first platform that reimburses pet parents for the routine care they regularly need for their pets. We eliminated the fine print and convoluted exclusions that make what’s covered and what’s not so confusing. And we got rid of the lengthy claims processes that plagued me when I was a grad student with no income. 

HCP: The pet insurance industry is both competitive and highly regulated. How does Wagmo differentiate itself to attract and retain customers, and what role does customer feedback play in this process?

Christie: Wagmo is the first-to-market in offering standalone wellness plans without requiring insurance enrollment. We’re essentially giving customers the freedom to choose what works for them while creating multiple ways they can enter our ecosystem. 

To ensure we continuously meet their needs, we’ve built and continue to build a real-time feedback system that captures insights at every customer touchpoint, from claims processing to wellness plan usage. These insights are invaluable in helping us address pain points and identify opportunities to innovate in ways that align with what pet parents actually want and need.

We’ve also taken an innovative approach to distribution by integrating pet benefits into employee wellness packages. Wagmo was founded as a pure-play direct-to-consumer company, but we began testing the waters with employer partnerships in 2022. 2024 was our first full year with our resources primarily focused on employer and channel partner sales –and it has paid off. It’s lowered our customer acquisition costs and given employers something unique to offer their teams. 

HCP: What are the key characteristics of a product that truly resonates with its customers, especially in the pet insurance space? How do these characteristics influence Wagmo’s product development priorities?

Christie: Most people dread dealing with insurance and claims. Our challenge–and opportunity–is reframing the way our customers think about their benefits and how they engage with us as plan members. We’ve mastered the seamless claims experience–in fact, we reimburse wellness claims in under 24 hours. We constantly get feedback from pet parents expressing their surprise and delight with ease of use.

Now, we’re keenly focused on our membership experience beyond claims and reimbursement. Our goal is to provide ongoing value to our members and also to set the standard for the best-in-class employer experience. 

HCP: What is your vision for a successful outcome for Wagmo? 

We don’t just want to be another player in the market – we want to be the company that transformed pet wellness from a “nice-to-have” to a “must-have” in employee benefits packages. 

We’ll know we’ve succeeded when brokers and consultants view Wagmo as an indispensable solution for securing and retaining their clients, and when HR directors trade stories about how Wagmo helped them boost employee satisfaction and retention. 

We want to see a fundamental change in how leading employers think about supporting working pet parents. Every time a busy professional can take their dog to the vet without stressing about costs, or when a new pet parent feels supported by their employer – that’s Wagmo making a real difference.

We’re growing faster than we ever have before, but it’s important to stay true to our mission and core values. While we’re scaling up and getting serious about enterprise growth, we’ll keep that spark that makes Wagmo special. We’ll stay weird, stay authentic, and keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in pet care benefits. Our team will grow, but we’ll maintain that culture of innovation and genuine care that got us here.

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At Harlem Capital, we invest in founders who are tackling complex industries with innovative technology and a customer-first mindset. Fintary and Wagmo exemplify this.

Qiyun and Christie have built products that not only address deep pain points in the insurance industry but also resonate with their users. Fintary is streamlining financial operations in an industry burdened by inefficiency, while Wagmo is reshaping pet insurance with a wellness-first approach.
Both companies are proof that software can revolutionize even the most traditional industries. We’re excited to back founders like Qiyun and Christie, who are building products that people not only use but truly love. Reach out to us at info@harlem.capital with your brilliant ideas.

About Harlem Capital Partners

Harlem Capital (HCP) is an early-stage, diversity-focused venture capital firm. HCP makes initial investments of $1mm to $2.5mm in U.S. seed rounds for 10-15% ownership.

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