Tugboat Closes $3M Seed Round to Expand Access to Expert Insurance Claim Support in the Age of Growing Climate Disaster

Former insurance adjusters scale a platform that helps property owners navigate the U.S insurance claims system and settle for more

LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, June 15, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Tugboat, a consumer insurance platform giving homeowners expert-level claim support, today announced an oversubscribed $3M in seed funding to scale its platform amid growing climate disaster frequency. The round was led by ResilienceVC with participation from South Dakota First, gener8tor, Sure Ventures, Acumen America, and other strategic investors.

Most policyholders find out what their insurance doesn't cover after a fire, a flood, or a denial letter. Carriers bring teams of adjusters, attorneys, and decades of claims data to every loss. The homeowner has historically been left to fend for themselves, or pay for expensive representation when disputes inevitably arise.

According to NOAA, the average time between billion-dollar disasters fell from 82 days in the 1980s to just 19 days in the last 10 years. Carriers are withdrawing from high-risk markets, premiums are climbing while coverage narrows, FEMA is contracting, and the burden of navigating a claim falls almost entirely on the policyholder. The 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, where more than 16,000 structures were destroyed, put the cost of that imbalance in plain view.

Tugboat was founded by Cameron Mooney and Aaron Mooney, veteran insurance adjusters who have resolved thousands of property claims across dozens of carriers. The company gives homeowners access to the same quality of expertise carriers use to manage their exposure, at $99 a year. Powered by a multi-pass agentic AI pipeline, the platform analyzes carrier correspondence, generates denial disputes and regulatory filings, and delivers expert-calibrated guidance. That includes letter writing, denial challenges, estimate comparison, negotiation guidance, and step-by-step support from first contact through final payment. The platform's intelligence engine encodes over 10,000 real-claims patterns and gets smarter with every claim it handles.

Following the California wildfires, Tugboat members recovered an average of $54k above what they were able to get prior to Tugboat’s support, without entering a representation agreement. 67% of homeowners believe they are required to accept the insurer's first offer, and Tugboat is closing that knowledge gap by helping members advocate for the recovery they deserve. Across 30 states, policyholders have recovered more than $15 million in additional settlements.

"We built Tugboat because property owners are being left behind in a system that optimizes for everyone else," said Cameron Mooney, Co-Founder and CEO of Tugboat. "Tugboat is the first platform built entirely for the person on the other side of the claim, there before disaster strikes and supporting them when it does."

“Tugboat creates massive value for its users, supporting them through a moment of extreme vulnerability as they struggle to navigate an extremely complex insurance claims process that is often incentivized to delay or deny payments,” said Tahira Dosani, General Partner and Co-Founder, ResilienceVC. “We see a huge opportunity for Tugboat with their market expanding rapidly as climate-related disaster events increase and insurance coverage narrows. Moreover, the founding team has deep insurance expertise and is building a compounding data moat that uniquely positions them to solve this challenge.”

The funding will support three priorities: building a fully integrated, partner-ready platform with API connections to major property management systems; accelerating embedded B2B distribution through partnerships with multifamily property owners, lenders, and restoration networks; and sustaining Tugboat's free disaster-response program, which activates during designated disaster events with no membership required.

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About Tugboat

Tugboat is a consumer insurance support platform that gives homeowners expert-level claim support. The company gives homeowners access to the same expertise carriers use, helping members document damage, challenge denials, and negotiate fair settlements. Tugboat has helped members across 30 states recover more than $15 million they would not have collected on their own, averaging an additional $54,000 per claim.

Kamila Khasanova
On Top Strategy
kamila@ontopstrategy.com

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