Best Startup
Follow Ryan Hartman in LinkedIn
Tell us about yourself?
I’m Ryan, cofounder and CMO of Chaiz, the first online comparison site for extended auto warranties. I am based in Austin, TX. I have 17+ years of digital and traditional marketing experience. Formerly the Senior Vice President of Paid Media at The Zebra, the nation’s leading insurance comparison site.
Prior, led marketing teams at Custom Ink, Esurance (an Allstate Company), and GEICO.
Tell us what problem your company solves?
The extended warranty category has been plagued with robocalls, spamming, predatory marketing practices and hidden costs. It’s a shame because the actual product is quite useful.
Most Americans can’t pay for a $1k auto repair bill out of pocket, so having an extended warranty can save you a lot of money on unexpected breakdowns.
People get warranties on their mobile phones, TVs, etc but a lot of times don’t protect their car which is usually their first or second largest asset.
Probably the best thing about Chaiz is we are purely digital — we don’t have overhead costs like those with physical locations do and we don’t have to pay sales commissions, so we pass that savings onto the customer.
In fact, Chaiz customers save an average $1,700 versus our competitors.
Where do you see your startup going in the next 3 years?
We want Chaiz to become the #1 brand in the protection space for most Americans’ most valued assets. We are looking to expand into home warranties, RV, motorcycle, boats, electronics, and more.
What makes your company positioned to deliver on their promises?
We are building a customer-centric platform that give our consumers multiple benefits. We save them money, give them peace of mind, and won’t spam them!
We don’t ask for phone number or email address to get quotes on our site since we hate the way the industry has been spamming and robocalling consumers over the years.
We are also completely transparent so you know what is covered and what is not covered. In fact, you can read the entire contract on our site before you buy.
Plus, we offer a 30 day money back guarantee if you’re not satisfied (or miraculously find a better price!)
Who is your founding team? Why are they the best people to run this company?
Reto Bolliger, who spent a number of years at Goldman Sachs and then started a profitable company in the travel space and Phil Koenig a three time founder who is a technical and product wizard.
With financial, marketing, and technical backgrounds we combine to make a formidable team.
Who are your main competitors, and why can you beat them?
We compete with the Carshields of the world. They are just big call centers and they actually sell third party contracts. They are known for terrible marketing practices such as robocalls and spamming and marking up service contracts by 300-400%.
They have to since they pay overhead costs, sales commissions, etc. With our purely digital process we don’t have those associated fees so we pass those savings on to the consumer.
Why are you raising financing?
After our pre-seed raise in July 2024, we have seen 5X growth in topline revenue. We want to ramp up growth and let as many people as possible know there is a better and more affordable way to buy vehicle protection.
We also want to expand the team to enhance and expand our product offeringsFollow Chaiz in LinkedIn
