Startup & scale-up insurance

In short: Your insurance should grow with your funding. At pre-seed you cover the legal basics; by Series A your investors will usually expect Directors’ & Officers’ (D&O) cover; and by growth stage you run a full programme through to exit. Use the roadmap below to see what matters now and what’s coming next — then let Apex place it.

Every founder we work with hits the same problem: nobody tells you what insurance you need when. You buy nothing until a customer contract demands professional indemnity, then a term sheet asks for D&O and you’re scrambling days before completion. Apex exists to take that off your plate. We broke the journey into funding stages, mapped the cover that matters at each, and built the tool below so you can see your own roadmap in ten seconds.

How insurance maps to your funding journey

The roadmap tool draws on a simple principle: insurance is a function of what you’ve promised and who you’re answerable to. At pre-seed your obligations are mostly legal — Employers’ Liability the moment you hire — plus professional indemnity if you’re already building for customers. At seed, customer contracts start dictating your PI limit and cyber becomes a serious line for anyone holding data. At Series A, the big change is people: an institutional investor takes a board seat, and their appointed director wants personal protection, so Directors’ & Officers’ cover typically becomes an investor expectation or a term-sheet condition. At Series B and C, the programme broadens — higher limits, employment practices liability, crime, international cover — until you’re preparing for an exit and thinking about warranty & indemnity insurance.

Guides for every stage

Each stage has a dedicated walkthrough: pre-seed, seed, Series A, Series B, and Series C and growth.

Understand each type of cover

Deeper explainers on the covers that appear as you scale: D&O, management liability, employment practices liability, cyber, key person, commercial crime, IP, and warranty & indemnity.

Insurance and your investors

When you raise, insurance stops being just risk management and becomes part of the deal. Read whether investors require D&O, the insurance clauses in term sheets, how insurance shows up in due diligence, and the checklist to run before your round.

Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 724952). This page and its roadmap tool are general information, not advice on a specific policy or a recommendation to buy any product. Requirements depend on your circumstances and your contracts — speak to us for a tailored assessment.