The Buddy Story
We're building the future of embedded insurance to make it easier than ever for everyone to live a bit more fearlessly.
How It Started
A More Fearless Society
Buddy's founders come from backgrounds in marketing, technology, and insurance, but came together around a single mission: to build a more fearless society. After creating the world's first on-demand accident insurance and building the technology to make buying insurance simple, fast, and modern, they started to realize they were onto something bigger.
Buddy is fully committed to empowering insurance carriers to thrive in the digital age. Our mission is to connect the right customer with the right insurance product at the right time, ensuring seamless online experiences where customers are already considering their risks and ready to purchase.
The Engine
Insurance Object Notation
Enter Buddy's Insurance Object Notation (ION™) engine - the simplest way for any company to offer insurance to customers online. Built for businesses but designed for developers, Buddy's single, forward-compatible connection enables you to offer insurance in a fraction of the time you're used to.
What Drives Us
Speed Over Everything
Insurance has been slow for decades. We obsess over removing friction - from onboarding a carrier to deploying a product to a live checkout.
Data as the Product
We believe clean, structured data is the unlock. ION™ turns messy filings and PDFs into a single source of truth that powers everything downstream.
Distribution Without Limits
Your product should live wherever your customers are. A div, a script tag, an API call - that's all it takes.
Carrier-First Design
We build for carriers and MGAs, not around them. Our infrastructure is designed to respect the complexity of insurance while abstracting away the pain.
Leadership
Meet the Founders
Charles Merritt
Co-Founder, CEO
Mom always knew I'd had a good time when I came home covered in dirt. The same energy to play and adventure now fuels my passion for what we're building at Buddy. I love using the tools of technology and storytelling to enable others to be fearless.
David Vogeleer
Co-Founder, CTO
I've never met a problem I couldn't fix with a node script. I've published multiple books on programming and won 12 Cannes Lions for creative work. I was the second fastest gun in the west, and I remain undefeated to this day in thumb wrestling!
Team
Meet Our People
Casey Baum
Enterprise Customer Success Lead
Cezar Carvalhaes
Senior Developer, Team Lead
Jon Fleming
Business Development & GTM
Meaghan Neylon
Developer
Sonia O'Malley
Sr. Operations Manager
Jay Paul
Director & Designated License Producer
Kevin Power
Integration Specialist
Christy Sheppard
Developer
Eric Sprehe
Head of Finance & Operations
Alexander Stein
Director of Information & Security
Aaron Ware
Developer
Ready to Ship Insurance Fast?
Whether you're a carrier, MGA, or distribution partner, we'd love to show you what Buddy can do.