Mosaic Insurance has been named “Cyber Newcomer of the Year” by insurtech and data services provider Advisen, a Zywave company.

The specialty insurer was honoured as an industry top performer at the ninth annual Cyber Risk Awards in New York City.

The award recognises start-up operations from 2021 that are making a significant impact on how cyber threats are identified, quantified, and mitigated.

Criteria included demonstrating a new way of doing business, a technological breakthrough, or an interesting partnership of skills “to make a splash” in the increasingly relevant sector.

Mosaic global head of cyber, Yosha Delong said: “It’s a testament to the hard work put in by Mosaic’s cyber team in our start-up year and the support of our brokers and partners throughout the industry.”

Cybersecurity is a core area of expertise for Mosaic, which began underwriting the line of business globally April 1, 2021, just two months after launch. Leveraging its Lloyd’s Syndicate 1609, together with capital-management agencies around the world, the cyber division benefited from Mosaic’s insurtech platform, allowing the buildout of portfolios using real-time insights and data.

Mosaic currently has 11 cyber specialists based in its Chicago, New York, London, and Bermuda offices, with plans to add more in Toronto and Frankfurt in the next few months.

“Our cyber team is on a mission – it’s incredibly exciting to work with them!” said Mosaic Co-CEO Mark Wheeler.

“The Cyber Newcomer of the Year Award is underpinned by Yosha’s outstanding talent, as well as that of the people she has assembled at Mosaic. Our differentiated model is rapidly scaling revenue and market access across our specialty underwriting business. This group is emblematic of that momentum.”

Rising cyber perils, including cyber warfare, data breaches, ransomware and other attacks on systems and software threaten industries and economies and increasingly affect all insurance lines.

Mosaic’s cyber team encourages clients to foster a security culture throughout organisations, and also capitalises on strong collaboration with US, UK and international law enforcement, academia, security protection, and breach response groups.

“We believe in a holistic approach – in how we both select risks and help sophisticated global customers focus on their controls and corporate culture to embrace best practices,” noted DeLong. “The cyber underwriting market’s transition in that direction is clear, and we plan to be at the forefront.”