Ben’s List 20

UK-based HotGreen Solutions secures €1.4M in industrial heat pump funding led by Empirical Ventures to decarbonise process heat with ultra-efficient technology.

Insurance fraud in France jumped 30% in a single year, climbing from €695 million in 2023 to €902 million in 2024, according to the French Insurance Fraud Prevention Agency. The culprit isn’t traditional fraud tactics—it’s generative AI tools that anyone can now access. While insurers scramble to adapt, a Toulouse-based trusttech startup, Certificall, raises seed funding of €1 million to block fraud at its source. Certificall, founded in 2022 by insurtech specialists Guillaume Laurent and Nicolas Chabauty, just closed a seed round led by TomCat, Groupama, and InsurAngels. Certificall raises seed funding because the company provides certified visual evidence solutions for insurers, brokers, and large industrial clients, addressing a problem that’s only accelerating. The fraud problem that AI made worse France estimates that insurance fraud accounts for roughly 5% of property and casualty premiums. That’s a significant chunk of the insurance ecosystem being lost to fraudulent claims. What changed dramatically over the past few years is how accessible fraud tools have become, showing why Certificall raises seed funding to innovate against these issues. “The increase in fraud in 2021-2022 was just the beginning,” explained Guillaume Laurent, Certificall’s president and co-founder. “Over the past two years, generative AI has become increasingly sophisticated and accessible to everyone. Certificall raises seed funding intending to block fraud at the source.” Laurent isn’t exaggerating. Anyone with a smartphone can now generate convincing fake damage photos, manipulate timestamps, or fabricate evidence that would have required significant technical skill just three years ago. Traditional verification methods simply can’t keep pace with AI-generated fraud. Certification architecture that actually holds up in court Certificall’s approach tackles the evidence integrity problem through a technological architecture designed around four complementary pillars: geolocation verification, tamper-proof certificates, qualified time stamping, and the eIDAS signature seal. That last element is particularly significant for anyone operating across European borders. The company has certified more than 3 million photos to date, with each report taking roughly 90 seconds on average. That speed matters when you’re dealing with claims adjusters who need to process dozens of cases daily while maintaining evidential standards. The platform guarantees the probative value of each piece of evidence from the moment it’s captured, which is exactly what insurers need when disputed claims end up in court. Digital evidence that can’t be verified is useless evidence, regardless of how quickly it was collected. European expansion at the right regulatory moment Certificall’s positioning as a trusted third party fully compliant with eIDAS—the European regulation for electronic identification and trust services—gives the company a structural advantage as Europe pushes toward its digital identity goals. The EU targets 80% adoption of a digital identity wallet by 2030, and Certificall sits at the intersection of that initiative and the insurance sector’s fraud prevention needs. eIDAS compliance ensures that every digital proof issued by Certificall is legally valid across the entire EU. For companies in document-sensitive sectors, this creates a reliable and compliant way to guarantee the integrity of digital evidence without navigating 27 different national frameworks. The €1 million in new funding will support further technology development and accelerate commercial expansion across Europe. With investors like Groupama—one of France’s largest insurance groups—backing the company, Certificall raises seed funding to obtain both capital and strategic partnerships to scale its solution. What this signals about European insurtech Certificall’s raise reflects a broader trend I’ve watched develop across European insurance technology: the shift from efficiency tools to integrity infrastructure. Early insurtech focused on making insurance faster and cheaper, but now we see how Certificall raises seed funding to address fundamental trust problems that technology itself created. The company is betting that as AI-generated fraud becomes more sophisticated, the market for certified, legally defensible evidence will expand beyond insurance into any sector handling high-value claims or disputes. Construction, logistics, and property management all face similar verification challenges. For now, though, Certificall is laser-focused on the insurance market, where the fraud problem is quantified, urgent, and growing. That focus—combined with strong timing around Europe’s digital identity push—positions the company to capture significant market share before competitors can build comparable eIDAS-compliant solutions. The fraud arms race isn’t slowing down. Certificall is betting that certified evidence infrastructure will become as essential to insurance operations as claims management software. Given the trajectory of AI-generated fraud, that’s looking like a solid bet.

For startup founders, events offer a spectrum of opportunities. On one end, you have the mega-conferences, bustling hubs of innovation that bring together tens of thousands of people. They’re fantastic for broad visibility and getting a pulse on the entire industry. On the other end, you have a different, equally powerful tool: hyper-focused, niche events. These are conferences dedicated to one specific technology, industry or discipline — the International Exhibition for Track Technology, or MCP Dev Summit, an event dedicated to the Model Context Protocol standardization, for example. The value proposition here is simple: if you’re in the industry, you need to be there. If you’re not, you don’t. For a founder with specific goals — generating highly qualified leads, getting deep product feedback, or becoming a recognized expert — such singular focus isn’t a limitation; it’s a superpower. Small events filter out the noise, guaranteeing that nearly every conversation you’ll have is with someone who understands what you do.  This article will explore why niche events should be a core part of any startup’s strategic playbook, and how they can offer a unique and powerful return on investment: Small, niche events offer a set of advantages that you simply won’t find at a massive, general-interest conference.  A room full of your people (and best leads) The biggest reason to attend a niche event is the audience: everyone there is a pre-qualified lead. You don’t have to waste time explaining the basics of your industry; just dive straight into meaningful conversations. This results in incredibly efficient networking because smaller settings naturally enable deeper, more memorable discussions. And as you might know, high-quality audiences translate directly to high-quality leads. A case study by enterprise SaaS firm Zendog Labs found that nearly “80% of leads and 90% of revenue were generated from niche trade shows and events.”  When you’re talking to people who already understand and care about the problem you’re solving, the path to conversion gets a lot shorter. But does that mean such niche events are more expensive? Not at all. In our experience, they’re usually on par with the market, even for much bigger events.   Build your brand and encourage thought leadership Huge conferences make it almost impossible for startups to stand out, while smaller events let you have your 15 minutes. Also since you’re only talking to a specific audience, it’s easier to tailor your communication and branding. Find what people in your industry will find cool, and build on that. For example, we know that geeky jokes and dev-oriented merch are always a hit at technical events.  Exhibiting your product, giving a talk, participating in panels, or even just asking insightful questions in workshops can quickly establish your credibility and position you as a thought leader. This is much easier to achieve when you’re not competing with the marketing budgets of corporations worth hundreds of billions of dollars.  How do we know if this works? Well, we’ve seen some small events like apidays benefit from high fidelity on the part of exhibitors who keep rebooking each year, even for different locations.  Get direct, honest and invaluable feedback The closer, intimate nature of smaller events tends to attract a knowledgeable group of people who are more inclined to share incredibly valuable and direct feedback. These people aren’t passive listeners; they are experts who can quickly spot flaws, validate your assumptions, or suggest improvements you hadn’t considered for your product, pitch or roadmap. Want to know if your new feature makes sense? Talk to 10 people in the hallway track. If no one gets excited, you’ve just received a priceless signal to pivot early rather than build in silence. This is the fastest way to validate your ideas and ensure you’re building something the market actually wants. It’s the ultimate crash course Niche events make for intense learning opportunities. Forget trying to piece together the latest trends from blog posts and webinars. At a focused conference, you’ll be served a concentrated dose of cutting-edge information, best practices, and expert insights over just a few days.  You’ll hear from people building in the trenches, solving the same problems you are, and there’s knowledge to be gained by listening to their mistakes and successes.  Fertile ground for partnerships and integrations What do you call a room full of companies working in the same space? A goldmine of potential partners.  Integrating with complementary services can be a massive growth lever for startups. At a hyper-focused event, you’re more likely to be surrounded by potential partners who understand your tech stack or serve the same customer base. Such events easily foster collaborations that can lead to powerful new ventures and career-defining moments. A goldmine of content Events are a fantastic opportunity to create a ton of relevant content for your marketing channels. Off the top of my head, you can: This content is likely to be highly relevant to your target audience because it is generated directly from the conversations happening at the heart of your industry. A quick word of warning Not all niche events are created equal. Before you commit, do your due diligence. Talk to people who have attended in the past, and check the reputation of the organizers. A poorly run event with low turnout can be a huge waste of time and money. Also, be careful of echo chambers. While it’s great to get validation from experts in your niche, make sure you’re also getting feedback from the broader market to avoid building a product that only serves a tiny, insular community. Go small to win big Choosing the right event is a strategic decision for startups, not an all-encompassing answer. While large conferences offer incredible scale and brand exposure, hyper-focused events provide a different kind of value: precision, relevance and a direct line of communication to a highly qualified community. Niche events will let you generate high-quality leads, accelerate your learning, validate your ideas with true experts, and build a powerful network within your industry. It’s