Ensera, Inc. Emerges to Automate the Claims Process in the Automotive Collision Repair Marketplace
15 August 2000
Introduces Industry-First Automated Payment-by-Progress System
REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. -Stealth Named EngineRoar.com During Development Phase, Redwood Shores, California-Headquartered Company Secures Additional Funding,
Initiates Deployment Phase of Open Standards Suite of Products to
Automate the Marketplace Processes
For more than eight months, the operations of a Redwood Shores, California-headquartered company issued no major announcements and threw no extravagant coming-out parties. It was in stealth mode while its team of programmers and designers developed solutions to automate the marketplace processes in the automotive collision repair industry under the code name EngineRoar.com.
That was then. Today, an aggressive, new company named Ensera, Inc. (www.ensera.com) emerges first-to-market with additional funding, a payment escrow management system called ION Claims(TM) that is to be escrowed by one of the world's largest financial institutions, and establishes itself as the leading provider of automating the repair claims processes, announced Anthony Aquila, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ensera, Inc. He notes the system is quickly finding favor with insurance carriers, repair facilities, and parts and materials suppliers across the country, as Ensera revolutionizes the automotive repair claims processes by allowing all the commercial participants involved -- insurance carriers, repair facilities, parts and materials suppliers, as well as the carriers' consumers -- to transact, exchange, and share information via the Internet.
"With approximately $120 billion in premiums generated per year in the private passenger automobile insurance industry, Ensera is initially targeting the $28 billion automotive collision repair marketplace with a process to reduce significant costs and cycle time in the collision repair claims process, which ultimately will translate to higher customer satisfaction and increased insurance policy renewals," said Aquila, who leads an executive management team whose collective expertise spans more than five decades of direct automotive claims and repair industry experience. "In addition to the first-of-its-kind ION Claims(TM) payment escrow management system, we plan to roll out additional proprietary components of our automated processing system and expect to announce agreements with at least four major insurance carriers to begin utilizing the Ensera system in the coming weeks."
As the stock market has indicated in the past several months, many Internet companies have either dropped significantly in value or have failed to raise funding from potential investors. However, Ensera has secured additional funding in a private placement that raised $20 million in equity from CMGI @Ventures, Wand Partners and other undisclosed investors.
"Given the enormous size of the automotive collision repair industry, the upside is phenomenal," said Eric Jeck, vice president of Wand Partners. "Ensera has positioned itself as the leader in this emerging market because of their vertical expertise, technology platform and capabilities and neutral approach to hosting and managing the marketplace. By creating applications that are accessible to every insurance carrier, repair facility, supplier and carrier's consumer, Ensera facilitates the realization of broad-based efficiencies and higher service levels among these participants via improved communications and personalized, real-time experiences. Ensera's approach is consistent with our approach of partnering with enterprises that use technology to integrate knowledge-based processes into established companies and industries."
The deployment phase of Ensera's Internet-enabled business process automation applications signals a shift in the collision claims and repair process. According to Aquila, "The transition from legacy systems and costly manual processes is being replaced by a streamlined, data-driven automation process where cost savings and excellent service levels are paramount. Ensera will partner with insurance carriers to increase their customer retention while reducing their loss adjusted expenses; partner with repair facilities to reduce their repair cycle time inefficiencies and increase the rate of cash flow; and partner with suppliers to enable an efficient parts procurement process and increase their visibility to repair facilities nationwide."
David Griffin, senior vice president of insurance operations for Ensera, noted, "Ensera's system serves as a new Internet-based, invisible `behind-the-scenes' system for the collision repair marketplace. Customers of carriers who partner with Ensera's system will have 24-hour, seven-day a week access. Ensera partners with insurance carriers which allows their customers to easily file a First Notice of Loss report (FNOL), find a repair facility in their area via the Repair Facilities Directory and check its Customer Service Index (CSI) rating, schedule a rental car appointment and even monitor progress of repairs online."
As the new Internet economy continues to initiate profound changes across the globe, the corporate deployment of these applications is expected to follow suit. According to Nari Kannan, chief technology officer for Ensera, "We are in a position to streamline the communication and processes in this large marketplace creating a series of mutually beneficial relationships. Advancement in technology enables these efficiencies to be achieved but the key to our business is our vertical expertise and strong partners."