Outstanding Progress: Bondaval shows us how it’s done

Our journey with Bondaval began with a shared belief: that credit risk management was ripe for disruption. Traditional methods were often slow, opaque, and inflexible, leaving credit managers and their clients alike frustrated. Enter Tom Powell and Sam Damoussi, the dynamic duo who founded Bondaval. Tom, a former professional athlete and startup investor, brought a passion for innovation and a deep understanding of the fintech market. Sam, with his decade-long experience in surety and growth within the insurance-backed bonds sector, added unparalleled sector expertise to the mix. Together, they envisioned a future where technology-backed credit risk cover could empower credit managers with greater control, transparency, and efficiency.

The Genesis of Bondaval

Starting a business is never easy. It requires vision, resilience, and the right support at the right time. For Bondaval, the journey from a simple idea to a market leader in just a few short years has been nothing short of remarkable.

Tom has always been fascinated by business. “I always wanted to start a business; in fact, the first business I started was a car washing business when I was 8 years old,” Tom recalls. That early entrepreneurial spirit eventually led him to work at Passion Capital, where he was exposed to the world of financial technology innovation.

While there, Tom began to see patterns in how technology could be applied to traditional industries. “The surety proposition is an underutilised idea, often stuck in a dusty, dark corner of the insurance world, but I thought it could be incredibly powerful if applied with technology,” he explains.

For many entrepreneurs, the decision to take the leap and start a company is daunting. But for Tom, the reality was more of a gradual process spanning 3 or 4 years, as opposed to a single leap. “Beforehand, I had chosen to work in a startup, so I could learn how to operate in an early-stage business. And then with Bondaval, we were working on the business plan for 6 or 7 months before we got the funding to start making it happen.” he says. That initial funding round was led by Insurtech Gateway; we saw the potential in Bondaval’s vision and knew we wanted to help bring it to life.

Reflecting on those early days, Tom shares,

“In terms of becoming a founder: it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. It’s so much more interesting, exciting, rewarding, challenging, and stressful than any of my previous careers. Every experience is magnified, but I love it.”

Red Tape

An early roadblock for many insurtechs is navigating regulation. Insurtech Gateway provided the initial regulatory support that allowed Bondaval to operate under our FCA licence and went on to help them navigate the complex process of securing full FCA authorisation. Our goal has always been to empower founders like Tom to focus on what they do best—building groundbreaking products.

“Without the support of Insurtech Gateway, there might not have been a Bondaval,” Tom admits. “They have been invaluable champions of the business, and their continued support is greatly appreciated.”

Insurance Partners and clients

As any founder will tell you, building the right partnerships is crucial to success – especially in an industry as relationship-driven as insurance. At Insurtech Gateway, we’ve always believed in the power of collaboration, and we were thrilled to help Bondaval make some of their earliest key connections.

When catching up with Sima Adhya, Divisional Head Aviation & Space, Head of Innovation at Hamilton, she commented that, “We are extremely grateful to Insurtech Gateway for introducing us to BondAval – it’s been a great partnership, we’ve learned so much along the way and enjoyed helping them build something exceptional.” This partnership was instrumental in Bondaval’s early success, providing the insurance capacity they needed to scale quickly and effectively.

When I asked Tom for his advice to new Founders he said,

“Bring in people from the market. It’s such a relationship-based industry, and it can be very difficult to come in cold.”

But securing insurance partnerships is only part of the equation. For Bondaval, it was also about delivering a product that genuinely solved a problem for their clients. “We were very targeted. We didn’t go to them and try to solve everything. We had a single proposition that we knew very well: that surety bonds were better than bank guarantees,” Tom explains.

This focused approach paid off, as Bondaval quickly attracted big-name clients like Shell and BP. “We’ve had lots of great milestones across the history of the business: signing partnerships with new insurers, winning clients, raising great rounds,” Tom reflects. “Probably the biggest turning point was last year when we won a very large client with a 7-figure premium, less than 18 months after our commercial launch.”

Outstanding progress

When I asked Tom to share the secret of his success with me he said, “The main principle I stick to is that you don’t need to understand exactly how you will build the finished business at the start. Of course, I believe we are facing an enormous opportunity, and I know the general direction I think we should move in. But we don’t need to know the finished novel, just the first chapter. Just keep moving forward, step by step, then bring in the right people to unlock the next stage. We’ve done a good job in hiring solid people to join us as the time came; we’ve not decided to ‘hire by numbers’ and increase headcount by 50% in 6 months or anything like that.”

Looking to the future

As Bondaval continues to grow, their long-term goals remain clear. “My vision for the future has still not changed,” Tom says. “I still want to deliver a full suite of credit risk mitigation tools, create an ecosystem where credit managers can unlock their receivables to access capital, and capital markets and financiers can invest in a new, secured asset class.”

With such a bold vision and the track record to back it up, there’s no doubt that Bondaval is just getting started. When I asked Sima about Bondaval’s growth potential she said,

“Bondaval has successfully proven their concept in a niche market. As their approach has universal relevance and can be applied to many adjacent industry verticals, their growth potential is theoretically limitless.”

Here at Insurtech Gateway, we’ll be cheering Bondaval on every step of the way, ready to provide any support or guidance they need to reach even greater heights.

The Power of Collaboration

Bondaval’s journey is a testament to what can be achieved when innovative ideas meet the right support system. It’s about more than just funding – it’s about building a network of allies who believe in your vision and are committed to helping you succeed.

As Tom reflects, ‘Without the support of Insurtech Gateway, there might not have been a Bondaval. By sponsoring us as an Appointed Representative under their FCA license, Insurtech Gateway gave us the regulatory support we needed to start operating immediately: the equivalent of a two-year head start. Now, their guidance has helped us to navigate the process and become directly authorised with the FCA ourselves. They have been invaluable champions of the business, and their continued support is greatly appreciated.’

We’re incredibly proud of everything Bondaval has achieved so far, and we’re excited to see where their journey will take them next.